Author's Notes
Hi to everyone!^^
As promised, I'm back again with a new chapter. This is the last chapter that I had originally released, but differently from the previous, this one instead is already a bit different from its original counterpart.
By the way, I'm enjoying this story's creation like few other times in my life, because I kept it in my mind for years before finding the courage to write it.
I say thanks to Castlewood, Curse Of Kings, Darckaiser2005, and Merged Claressa SSJ5 Goddess for having added this story among the Favourites.
See you soon with the third chapter^^
Cj Spencer
Like the past year, Vivio and her friends had decided to celebrate the last day of training before the tournament with a big party, once again in Nanoha's house.
But this time there were also all the other competitors that Vivio and Einhard had gotten to know during the last competition; other than Miura there were also Miss Viktoria, Miss Mikaya and Sieglinde, but also Corona and Rio.
"Cheers!" said Vivio rising her glass and opening the celebrations together with Nanoha, Fate and Hayate.
Two days before the preliminary groups had been finally announced, and all considered one could say that fate had been kind to some of them but incredibly ruthless with all others.
In order to create the greatest show possible, starting from that year all the 256 participants of all the districts of Mid Childa taking part in the Intermiddle Summer Cup will have fought each other in a single big challenge, gathered in four large groups marked from A to D.
Each group had its own course, and the winners of every group would've challenged each other in order to choose the new world champion, in addition to taking part in the final inter-dimensional tournament to see who was the best among the bests.
Vivio and Miura, respectively assigned to the groups C and D, had been the luckiest for sure; in Group C in fact there were only Lutecia and Hallie, while in D, apart from Miura, there was only Chantez.
But the most competitive of all was surely Group B, where instead one could see almost all other girls, for a curious and somehow ironic joke of destiny: in addition to Viktoria there were even Sieglinde, Fabia and Rio, although fortunately none of them had been put against a friend for the first match.
The list ended with Corona, Els, Mikaya and Einhart, assigned to Group A.
"It will be a tournament even more exciting and harsher than last year's one, I'm sure of it!" said Hallie, the most hyped about it.
"Plus this, with the new rules, the level has substantially increased" said Viktoria
"By the way" asked Nanoha. "What's the major changes in the rules exactly?"
"Speaking of the battle rules, there's been quite less changes." Said Vivio. "The important thing is that all of the tournaments between Under 15 and Under 21 have been regrouped into one single competition. The winners of the four groups will fight each other for the title of World Championship, but all of them will be automatically admitted to the Interdimensional Tournament."
Just then Rio noticed that Viktoria had opened a virtual window, remaining almost captured by the picture she was looking, probably a few years old one, representing her together with of a boy about her own age, with dark hair and a deep gaze.
"Who is him?" she mischievously asked: "Your boyfriend?"
"It's a good question, especially if you're the one to make it." she replied while smiling. "If you wanna know, he will be your first opponent.
His name is Arthur. Arthur Aygren Pendragon, the last heir and current head of the Pendragon Household."
"The Pendragons!?" repeated Els. "Miss Viktoria, do you perhaps mean the descendants of King Arthur!?"
"Exactly. At least, that's what most people think. In truth, no one can say for sure whether the current Pendragon dynasty really descends from King Arthur.
What is certain though is that, like my family, they're part of the highest nobility of ancient Belka.
We often trained together when we were in junior high school. Three years ago, when his parents died, he and his sister Jamie moved to one of their many estates in another world, and since then we did not see each other. "
"Is he strong?" asked Vivio almost hopefully.
"What do you think? If I remember correctly our score is fifteen wins apiece and zero draws. "
"He manged to beat you fifteen times!?" said Hallie. "But then he must be a monster!"
"His specialty is fencing, but he's also good in martial arts, and he has experience in the evocation too. In other words, he is a versatile and sometimes unpredictable fighter.
There's not be an easy challenge awaiting you, my dear Rio. "
"This just makes me more excited!" said a not intimidated Rio.
"That's the spirit. However, I'm not worried. Even if you lose, it would mean that I'll be his next opponent, and that wouldn't be so bad. I'm really curious to see how much he's improved in recent years. "
Shortly after the girls indulged in the festivities, allowing Fate, Nanoha and Hayate to huddle together to discuss an important matter.
"Do you remember the accident from two months ago?" Hayate asked her two friends, serving them some excellent wine just arrived from Earth, and receiving a worried nod in exchange. "A warship had identified a powerful magical signal more or less at the same time when the dragons of various worlds went out of control. But even if we've been able to discover the world from which the signal has come, after all this time we're still unable to find out the exact point where this happened. "
"What world is that?" asked Fate
"Administered World Nineteen, Camlum."
"But it should be an uninhabited world," said Nanoha. "It is a natural reserve."
"True. But there are also many ruins dating back to the Ancient Belka, some of which have not been studied or excavated by archaeologists yet. Perhaps it was from one of these ruins that the signal has come."
"Yet I don't understand how a magical signal can make dragons and wyverns go crazy, in hundreds of worlds simultaneously." replied Fate
"We have collected some of that energy, and we are now studying it. As soon as we know something, I'll let you know. "
Suddenly, Vivio and Einhart entered the room, with the most stunned and worried expressions marked on their faces.
"Mommy, it's terrible!"
"What happens?"
"Look. Look at this." and then Vivio showed them the message on her virtual window "Everyone have just received this communication from the tournament's organizers."
Nanoha and Fate red it, and their eyes too filled with dismay even before finishing.
"What the…"
"What's the meaning of this?" Nanoha shouted while violently slamming a sheet over the desk of Mikail Dembrids, once her fellow teammate at the magic academy, and now second-in-command of the Intermiddle's board of directors.
"Isn't obvious?" he calmly replied. "It's just a communications to the fighters to inform them about a new rule approved by the council."
"That's the point; I can't believe you've really approved something like this!"
"I can't see the problem, Captain Takamachi. It's a very simple rule. A little add to the regulation."
"And you call the right for the winner to claim the energy of its opponent's linker core just a little add?!"
"It's not mandatory. It's just a prize the winner will have the freedom to claim if desired."
"You're a mage like me, then you should know that the linker core is not something you can play with! It's dangerous!"
"Come on, Takamachi. We both know that a linker core is more than able to restore by itself even if deprived of its energy, especially if the owner is very young and healthy. A bit of rest, a couple of weeks without magic, and everything's settled."
"Have you ever tried to allow someone to drain your linker core? I can assure you it's not funny!»
«We demanded for a certain number of specialists' respectable opinions, and all of them agree that it's absolutely riskless for every single participant. If not, we would never have given our finally authorization."
"For the last time, it's dangerous! And I can't believe you still refuse to admit it."
At that point, Michail made clear that he was going out of patience.
"If you're so worried about this, you can make your daughter retreat from the competition."
"Of course I'll do! And I'll not be the only one! Even Einhart and the others will retreat."
"It's all up to you. But get ready for the consequences."
"What!?" a stunned Nanoha replied
"The tournament is just a one week far, and everything is settled already. If you retreat now, the less you can expect is a very high fine. Not to mention that your daughter and the others' reputation as fighters and athletes may suffer a serious blow."
"Are you joking me? This is unfair!"
"Not for the rules of the tournament." Michail calmly replied. "By the way, the fighters' sign is necessary to retreat from the Intermiddle. I'll wait here for Vivio and the others." then he sinisterly smiled. "But I'm sure they'll not do it. They're not like you, Takamachi. They have no fear."
This time, Nanoha remained speechless, unable to believe that the same man she had learned to learn and respect at the academy was the same one standing right now in front of her.
"Now, if you want to excuse me, I have other things to do."
"You're a beast." said Nanoha, enraged like few other times in her life. "You and the others." then she left almost destroying the door.
"I'll fight." Vivio said with no hesitations rising up her eyes from the TV
"What!?"
"We talked each other while you and Fate-mama were at the stadium, and we chose all together to take part at the tournament in any case."
"Vivio, listen to me." Nanoha said while gently touching her shoulders, like a good and caring mother. "If you're worried for the fine, everything's all right. I'm more than able to pay it. And you don't have to worry for your reputation either. With such careless and stupid rule, no one could blame you if you should decide to retreat."
"That's not the problem, mama. Even if they changed the rules, for some of us this will be our last Intermiddle as junior fighters. It's our last occasion to fight each other and test our strength. We cannot waste it."
"But, Vivio… you don't understand. The linker core's assimilation… it's painful. Extremely painful. It's almost like feeling life itself taken out of your body by force. And if someone decides to reclaim it, you'll have to let him do it."
"Don't worry, mama." Vivio said with a gentle smile. "I'm not interested in power, and I absolutely have no intention to make someone suffer by taking its linker core. And Einhart and the others think the same."
"Yes, I understand, but… what about the others? If someone apart the girls should defeat you."
"You have no reason to worry about this." Vivio replied trying to hide her true feelings. "Because no none will defeat me. This time, I swear I'll win!"
A resigned Nanoha smiled and caressed her daughter's long hair: it was clear that it was simply impossible for her to make Vivio change her mind.
"Very well." she said while embracing her "Just please, I beg you. Be careful."
"As always, mama."
The first day of the tournament ultimately arrived, and even if only few matches were on program for that day, the Cranagan's sports hall was completely sold out.
Vivio and the others had been barely able to sleep that last night, and both she and the others felt a strange wave of emotion when their faces appeared on the monitors, even if only for a few seconds, marking their names and status together with all other fighters.
The opening ceremony was even more impressive than the previous year's one, and before noon the first matches begun.
The first ones to take the field were the athletes of Group A, and at first nothing unusual happened at all.
Mikaya immediately put things in the right direction, defeating without a hitch her first opponent, a capable magician but not as strong as her, then was the turn of Els.
"Wait and see!" she proudly proclaimed before heading toward the arena. "It will not end like last year. This will be the beginning of my return to glory! "
Her opponent, as announced by the presenter, called Ashley D. Freichfras, eighteen, from the northern district of Mid-Childa. Physically she looked like a honest-to-good girl, with a slender but strong body denoting a strong passion for sports, brown hair in a martial ponytail and unusual purple eyes.
Even its barrier jacket, on which light blue was the main color, was a mix of elegance and comfort, and fitted with a few pieces of silver armor on the shoulders and wrists.
Walking at a slow pace, the girl walked from out the tunnel to her assigned corner, never taking her eyes away from Els.
In order for the two challengers to remember the new rules, the referee entered the ring to warn them.
"For the first three matches of this tournament there will be a single round, lasting five minutes. If one of the two falls from the ring, she will have ten seconds to climb back, or she'll have lost. If at the end of the round there won't be a winner, the match will be decided by the judges. The remaining life points will not count.
All of this clear?"
"Yes," chorused the girls
"And remember that in any case, the winner will be authorized to reclaim her opponent's linker core if she wants."
"I'll not do it.» Els said proudly. "And you?"
"Of course not." said Ashley "My power is my soul. There's no way I could desire to steal someone else's."
Ashley and Els returned to their corners, and as the virtual monitor above them gave the signal they immediately took their weapons. Ashley was wielding a strange and somehow unusual device for a Striker Arts' mage: it resembled a bow, stiff and sharp, that due to its being collapsible on its three section was able to fold in a sort of dagger.
And initially it was as a dagger that she chose to use it, because its sharp edges and curved form were certainly something one had reasons to fear; but not Els.
"Attacking frontally a barriers' expert?" she said while calling countless magic circles. "You have to go over the basics!"
Clouds of bright handcuffs rushed against her opponent from all directions, but Ashley surprisingly managed to avoid all of them, thanks to an agility that caught Els completely unprepared, leaving her exposed to a series of blows that took away from her over 2000 Life Points in just a few seconds. And she probably would have lost even more of them, but thanks to her exceptional reflexes and a bit of luck, she was ultimately able to dodge a tremendous final kick that would've thrown her out of the ring for sure.
Fortunately Ashley seemed to feel the consequences of that furious assault as well, being forced to retreat to a safe distance once understood that her last attack had failed, giving Els some time to recover.
"She's really fast," mumbled Els. "I don't even know how I managed to dodge that kick."
"I'm Ashley Dyane Freichfras" solemnly said her opponent while returning her bow to its standard form. "Last heir of Lord Edmund Freichfras and Herera Sol Kleyros, First Generals of King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table. For the honor of my ancestors and the ancient Kingdom of Camelot, I will not lose this match for anything in the world. "
"Don't be so full or yourself, this battle is far from over!" Els shouted attacking again.
Ashley dodged most of shots, but from that point on she spent the next two minutes in a defensive stance, without even trying to fight back.
However, because of her opponent's great speed and agility, and despite all the blows thrown one after another, most of Els' attack were unsuccessful, and after four minutes, Ashley had lost "just" 4000 points.
"What's wrong with you, why aren't you fighting back?" said Els while attacking relentlessly. "How can you call this a fight?"
With only a single minute left, it seemed that even without reaching the end with a KO the judges' decision would be clear; despite this, Viktoria and Sieg, sat with the other girls near the stands, were a bit worried.
"No good," said a worried Sieg seeing that her friend had begun to breathe heavily. "She's wasting too much energy."
"You're right," said Corona. "But, I don't understand why that girl is not fighting back."
"That Ashley is clearly a long range magician" said Viktoria. "Speed, agility and precision are not a problem for her, but she's not suited for a close combat like this one."
"But she attacked first," said Vivio
"It's a basic tactic," said Nanoha. "Attack quickly in order to close the match immediately. And if it weren't for Els' reflexes, she would have succeeded. But as a long range magician, her barrier jacket and her defenses in general are not fitted to absorb too many hits. That's why she's trying to avoid fighting."
"But a magician who acts in this way," said Viktoria. "is a magician that is planning something. And that oddball is so busy trying to hit her that she can't realize it. "
And indeed, there was something that no one, not even Nanoha and the others, had noticed; and it was that since Els' assault had begun, apart from dodging attacks Ashley had spent all that time to lowly recite some kind of litany, while the blue sphere set in the middle of her bow was filling more and more with a pale light.
"Now!" she muttered at the right time.
Suddenly, once reached a far enough distance from Els, Ashley materialized a lightning rope for the bow, and almost at the same moment, a shining arrow appeared among her hands.
"Blind Shot!"
The apparently inaccurate shot hit the ground at Els' feet, producing such a bright explosion that not only her, but also the entire crowd went blind for some seconds.
"Don't think this will be enough to stop me!" Els shouted trying not to lose her opponent's position.
Struggling to keep her eyes open, Els tried to look around in search for any possible threat, and in a matter of seconds, she noticed a shadow right at her left.
"Found you!" and she immediately called for all her remaining power. "Punisher!"
Rivers of magical handcuffs trapped the girl, binding her everywhere before she could even think to shoot a second arrow, but Els' sly and satisfied face dramatically changed when she saw her opponent fading away like a ghost in front of her, leaving behind only inert handcuffs.
"What?"
"An illusion?!" Einhard exclaimed, just as shocked as her.
"Watch out Els, above you!" Viktoria tried to scream, but it was already too late.
As she looked up Ashley was already above her, her legs pointed up and the head looking the ground, and in her bow there was not one, but five bright arrows.
"Infinity Arrow!"
As she shot those arrows, they became hundreds and even more, raining all together upon Els. The girl desperately managed to avoid some of them, but in the end she was hopelessly overwhelmed, suffering so many damages all her remaining life points went zero in the blink of an eye, leaving her so much beaten up that it was necessary to call for the paramedics.
"We have a winner!" said the announcer. "With an almost unbelievable comeback, newcomer Ashley Freichfras defeats her first-class opponent and moves on to the second round!"
"This... cannot... be…" an half-conscious Els muttered while the medics were taking her away. "Not again…"
Despite the speed with which the action had taken place, Nanoha and the others had understood what was happened.
"Now I understand," said Fate. "During all that time, without showing it, that girl has casted a long spell, calling at the same time all the energy she needed to launch her attack."
"So that's why she was avoiding fighting," said Corona. "By reacting Els' attacks, she would have risked losing concentration, and dispel her magic before being able to launch it."
"She has prepared a difficult spell without lowering her guard nor suffering significant blows" Nanoha declared. "That girl is really good."
Vivio, Einhard and other cadets felt a chill down their backs: she was surely another opponent to watch out for.
The tournament's schedule was built using a "relay" structure, with the matches of the four groups changing each other during the same day; so, when the first sixteen fight of Group A went out, it was time to move on to Group B, and here too the all predictions were initially respected.
Fabia fought for first, followed by Viktoria almost immediately, and as expected, both of them achieved two swift and decisive victories.
Then Rei's turn finally arrived, and for the first time in months a wave of anxiety filled the little girl's body and soul.
She had faith in her strength, but she knew that there was a very difficult opponent waiting for her, even according to Miss Viktoria's words.
However, when her time came, she didn't leave behind her proverbial boldness, lively jumping over the ring even before her name was called.
"And now we go to the tenth match of Group B, which will see the fight between two opponents of unquestionable power.
In the red corner we have a young athlete who, even with one single previous participation to the Intermiddle, has already given proof of her skills in last year's tournament, and who is surely aiming to provide once again a determined performance! Ladies and gentlemen, Rio Wesley! "
"Come on, Rio!" Vivio and the other shouted from the stands. "We're all with you!"
"But Rio must be very careful not to let her guard down, because she'll have to deal with a very fierce and dangerous opponent! Ladies and gentlemen, Arthur Pendragon! "
The usual scenic smoke was shot, but once vanished there was no trace of said opponent, by the astonishment of everyone including the presenter.
"The fighter Arthur Pendragon is asked to reach the ring right now, or he will be disqualified."
Then, after a few moments, the crowd heard a sound of footsteps, and finally the announced person appeared, warmly acclaimed despite everything.
"This young rookie has dominated his preliminary round, defeating all his opponents in matches that often lasted less than three minutes! Undoubtedly this will be a tough nut to crack for our Rio!"
Curiously its barrier jacket was much like Subaru's, adapted and redesigned to be worn by a man, with the glaring difference that the clothes, instead of white, were completely black.
Slowly, with a cold expression and looking down, Arthur reached the ring, and at that point Rio welcomed him with a friendly bow.
"Very well, gentlemen! The match can finally start!"
"Good luck," sportingly said Rio assuming her stance. "Let's do our best."
"You're not one of them," was the freezing answer she received in return. "I have no need for you."
Rio, which was not a saint at all, was quite vexed for that seemingly haughty tone, and as the bell rang she immediately went all-in: she knew she was taking a risk, but she didn't want to give the enemy time to react.
"Soryu Enbu."
The two dragons of thunder and fire appeared behind her, and then pointed straight at the enemy; the young boy, incredibly, didn't move, nor he seemed willing to dodge or repel the assault, but nonetheless the dragons, just before hitting him, disappeared, as if an invisible barrier had destroyed them.
But that was not a problem.
Rio, in fact, took that moment when Arthur was unable see her to quickly fill the distance between them, and in a few second she was already right before him; then, once jumped towards him, she prepared to close the match here and now.
"Gorai Ho!"
And again, Arthur didn't move, nor he even looked up to her, as if he was simply uninterested in fighting.
Then, something happened.
Rei was practically on the verge of hitting Arthur, a mighty blow capable of providing him some serious damages.
Instead, all of a sudden, Rio was the one to be hit; some sort of invisible force that nobody managed to see violently punched her on her left side, leaving her completely off-guard and literally shooting her outside the ring.
Even the countdown proved being unnecessary, because Rei's scorekeeper immediately fell to 0, and the same girl seemed almost lifeless, with glassy eyes and a frozen face.
"It's ... it's over!" said the announcer, shocked like all others. "Arthur Pendragon wins! The timer shows exactly thirteen seconds, which makes this match one of the shortest in the Intermiddle's history! "
But unlike every other time, no applauses saluted this victory, all replaced by a single and shocked silence.
