'Power level has dropped back to 1.5 million points…'

If a stranger were to look at Yuuno Scrya right now, they would assume that all of his concentration was being used to maintain the barrier while the trial went on below. However, only a portion of his mind was staying focused on the barrier while the rest of his mental capacity was aimed at analyzing the data feedback.

'Her power spikes only when she goes on the attack. She's got good control over her body processes to maximize energy usage and efficiency.' He paused for a moment. 'Or perhaps it's her device that's doing that for her?'

It was just another question to add to the list. Honestly, there were way too many mysteries that surrounded this woman. Until he got a few things cleared up and a proper blood test to confirm her genetic identity, it was going to be difficult to answer the one question that burned on his mind… that probably burned on everyone's mind.

Was this woman the genuine Sankt Kaiser? Is she truly Olivie Segbrecht?

The immediate answer that would pop up in anyone's mind is a definite no. She was reported to have died during the end of the Unification Wars almost a century ago. So the most likely explanation, based on the fact that she's dead, was that she's one of the earlier clones born out of Project F. Given that the experiment had spanned for decades, it was the only explanation that made sense to allow her to grow up to this age naturally, master her abilities and her device, an actual authentic and unusual one from the time of Belka. But there was a problem with that theory.

When the Unification War ended, the Church's predecessor took possession of Olivie's personal items that survived the last climactic battle that claimed the Hegemon's home and most of his world. They had intended to look after the trinkets for safe keeping but somehow, those trinkets ended up playing a key part in forming the Church.

The essays that dictated how she perceived life and acceptable behaviour had served as their scriptures. An old garment with a sample of her blood served as a revered holy artifact until it was stolen in 0065. If one wanted to get a genetic sample of the last Kaiser, getting that shroud would be the only way to do it aside from looking through the Saint's Cradle itself (which would be a long and tedious task). When the Cradle had been destroyed in September of 0075 that meant that no more clones of the Kaiser's bloodline can be created as Vivio was safe in the care of the Bureau and the Church.

So the clone theory had a few holes. He accepted that and filed that away for further study while considering a new theory, based on the fact that she somehow survived the end of the War.

The last known witness to her whereabouts was Ingvalt if the memoirs were correct. He had tried to stop her from sacrificing herself to end the Cradle's rampage across worlds. Apparently, someone else had managed to put an end to things while something happened to Olivie that allowed her to live in this time, only a few years older than her last recorded appearance.

'Perhaps she had fought a battle and ended up in some sort of temporal suspension as a side effect of the magic used by her enemies?' It seemed a very plausible explanation although he would have thought that she would have been stuck on Shutra and lost forever in her frozen state.

"Hi, Yuuno-kun!"

"Hi, Nanoha," replied the Librarian automatically before going back to his theorizing and shielding tasks. 'Did someone move her frozen body to Vaizen where she eventually became free, found that orphan boy and became his guar-'

Time out for a second. Stop with the theorizing and direct your sight towards your love interest/childhood friend who's pressing her face against the observation window.

Yuuno's subconscious finally got him out of his deep academic state of mind and back to reality. "Nanoha, what are you doing here?"

"Heard about this combat test going on from Subaru and Touma-kun and we all came here together to observe!" She hummed in delight as she felt the light vibrations on her skin from the glass. "They must be giving it maximum effort in there and having a lot of fun!"

'Hayate, when was she allowed in? And are you sure this is something she should know about immediately? She's going to want answers that we can't give right now!'

'I know that,' was the tired telepathic answer that came from the Lieutenant Colonel. 'But considering who's really in there and how gossip can spread like wildfire on the base, I figure it's best to get her in the loop now.'

'I guess you have a point…' He could only imagine what kind of insanity could have come up all due to misunderstandings on Nanoha's part.

Speaking of Nanoha, she turned around to face Hayate. "So where is this person who's fighting Signum? And can I get next fight afterwards?"

"You're gonna get your butt kicked. Nothing personal though," said Touma.

"Touma, don't say stuff like that!" Subaru laughed nervously as all other eyes turned towards him for a moment.

Nanoha's smile still remained on her face. "Well, I won't lose easily! I have a few tricks up my sleeve too. Now, can I get a turn in later?"

"O-oi! Just what are you thinking, you dummy?" exclaimed Vita.

"Ah, I see. You saw that fighter first so you want dibs. Am I right, Vita-chan?"

The Knight of the Iron Hammer just twitched at the other woman's behaviour. "Good grief, you're such a kid! Stop getting the wrong idea!"

"Nyahaha…" The vibrations on the glass stopped as the combatants down below broke apart after their latest clash. It also allowed for Nanoha to get a good look at who was facing Signum while there was a lull in the fighting.

The Knight herself was on the left side, the shoulder sections of her outer Knight's clothing rather tattered. She was breathing a bit harder than usual, most likely due to just how strong her opponent was.

And on the right… was a blue clad woman in an armour set and blue garments. The blue fabric was singed, probably a result of this warrior blocking Signum's flames earlier. She took her time in catching her breath as well while her mismatched eyes kept focused on the enemy ahead.

Those mismatched eyes that were very familiar to Nanoha by now as she felt herself go pale. "That's…!"

"Before you jump to any conclusions Nanoha-san, please make sure you understand this key fact," said Carim calmly. "That is not your daughter down there. Otto had contacted me earlier, confirming that she has picked up your child and is on her way here."

"Then what…?"

Hayate struggled for a quick explanation of the woman's identity. "If anything, I guess we can call her Vivio's biological mom?"

Nanoha just stared. "… …"

"It is technically true," said Yuuno to break the awkward silence. "Honestly, with the feedback of combat data I've been getting, it feels like the theory of her being the original Olivie Segbrecht is gaining a bit more weight. Speed, reaction time, attack pattern strategy… all that could only be developed through many years of training."

While that sank into the heads of the others, Touma voiced a different question. "Wait a sec… now I have a sister too?"

"If you're the son of Her Majesty, then I guess she would count as your sister." Carim paused for a moment. "Or would she be like an Aunt?"

"Huh?"

"It's… complicated. But we'll explain everything to you and your mother once Vivio gets here," promised the Saint Church Director. Hopefully by the time they were ready for that conversation, she could figure out just where those three stood in the Belkan Imperial Family Hierarchy and explain things accordingly.

"Subaru, you already knew the identity Touma-kun's mother, correct? Why didn't you tell me?" asked Nanoha.

"It's not like I can work it into a regular conversation," mumbled Subaru in defense before switching her tone to a fake uppity one. "Hi, Nanoha-san! How's it going? By the way, did you know that this boy's mother looks exactly like a grown up version of Vivio?"

"You could have said something!"

Upon seeing Nanoha try to figure out if she should be angry or disappointed, Subaru decided it was time to switch the subject to something else since this one was making her feel a bit uncomfortable. "Ah… so how is Signum-san doing anyway? I mean… if Olivie-san's the real deal, then…"

"She's been certainly demonstrating her capabilities as a warrior. Analysis, prediction, reaction are all top notch. But what I find a bit strange is that even with all those precise high pressure attack strings, she hasn't been able to properly break Signum's guard and force an opening." Yuuno paused for a moment. "And then there were some odd instances with Signum's movements at times."

"What do you mean?" asked Hayate.

"I'm not entirely certain but… here." The blonde man summoned a monitor and brought up some earlier footage of the duel in which showed Olivie scattering high and low attacks to confuse Signum's guard stance. "Maybe someone with a keen eye for magical combat can help pinpoint where I'm getting at."

All eyes briefly turned to Nanoha who managed to snap out of her earlier funk. "Sure, I guess I can help." A few moments passed as she digested the footage of Olivie's next set of attacks. "My word… that woman must have a lot of muscle power in order to maintain that momentum after doing a quad feint!"

"Stay focused please."

"Sorry, Carim…" Nanoha turned back to the video replay and spotted what Yuuno had meant. In the middle of Olivie's rushdown, Signum seemed to lose balance but before her opponent could capitalize, the Knight stabbed her sword in the ground and had her device load a cartridge to create a makeshift flame barrier. "I think I see it. That last defensive movement used by Signum… the execution was shaky. Because it didn't have her usual sense of grace and control, I have to conclude that it wasn't done consciously."

"So she pulled that off by pure instinct? How come I don't remember seeing that move in her arsenal when we sparred?" asked Vita.

"Well, she hasn't faced a pure Belkan style opponent with an aggressive combat style like this. Even when she sparred with Sister Schach and other Church Knights, they tended to favour a more defensive style," said Carim as she offered up her own explanation. "And while Vita is certainly not lacking in aggression, she tends to focus on power instead of speed and unpredictability."

"Mom can do all that easy! She's smart and powerful and fast and stuff!" exclaimed Touma.

"And because of that powerful combat style awakening her instincts…"

Hayate picked up on where Carim was leading. "That means Signum's able to stay in the fight and avoid being overwhelmed?"

"It's all learned reflexes," said Shamal as everyone turned to her. "Muscle memory to be precise. Repeat an action and practice it enough and your body remembers how to do it without your brain telling it to."

"Like how Mariel-san can disassemble and reassemble the main body of any low grade Device blindfolded?" asked Nanoha.

The Lady of the Lake nodded. "That's a good example. Or take my case. I don't recall any memories of my life before meeting Hayate but when I was awakened by her and saw her in the wheelchair, the first thoughts that came to my mind were surgical options on how to fix her condition."

Subaru was surprised to hear such a thing as it was one of the rare times any one of the four Belkan Knights actually spoke about some of their history. Then a disturbing thought came to her. "If Signum-san's body has those types of instincts, then she must have lived a life of endless battle before meeting Hayate-san, correct?"

"You have no idea," muttered Vita.

'So this is the strength of the Kaiser… with all that power coming down on me, somehow I'm still in one piece…'

Once in a while, when fragments of her old life surfaced, Signum would remember some of the stories that she had heard about the Kaiser. About how they were the essence of Belkan combat arts given flesh, fighters who obtained the delicate balance of grace, speed and power.

As she found out for herself, those stories were certainly true. Olivie's focused and powerful movements were controlled tightly to maximize usage of energy. Honestly, there were times when Signum knew that her guard could have been broken but apparently; the fates were smiling upon her today by letting her body's memory remember some defensive techniques that she had probably developed during one of her past incarnations.

Both combatants took their time to catch their breath and revise their combat strategy. For Signum, she went through what options she had available against an opponent of this calibre while using this precious reprieve to put in some new cartridges.

Bogenform was obviously out. The set up time would be too long and Olivie would undoubtedly be in her face before she managed to get an arrow off.

Schlangeform seemed a bit more feasible but that would mean remaining stationery and relying purely on Laevatein's ability to strike with that form. Would it be able to match up with her opponent's speed? Or maybe… that woman would be crazy enough to try and strike the device in its extended form with her fists and damage it.

Yes… she would try such a thing. The Kaiser's reaction time was beyond what the Knight had expected when she tried to counterattack earlier (although to be honest, Signum's gut feeling told her that those mismatched eyes played some role in that). And with her strength, she could possibly cause some serious damage since Laevatein would enter Olivie's attack range and be open for a powerful blow. If she was going to use that form, she would have to be certain that it can definitely land the blow that would finish the fight in her favour.

In the meantime, she would stick with her old reliable strategy of getting up close, waiting for her chance and striking the enemy as much as she could with Schwertform. It would take a lot of time but that was fine with the Knight of the Sword.

As powerful as that young woman is, she didn't seem to have a lot of patience (most likely an attribute of her youth). In her last offensive, she appeared to be taking a few more risks to force an opening in Signum's guard. If Signum kept her guard up properly, Olivie's lack of success would cause her to take larger risks. And that would give the General of the Raging Fire that small window of opportunity to strike.

Speaking of Olivie, she seemed to be ready again as she planted her feet firmly into the dirt while concentrating on channelling energy into her right hand.

"Meine Hand leuchtet mit ehrfürchtiger Kraft...! "

While she began to chant, a rainbow Belkan triangle formed under her feet and that hand of hers began glowing red.

"Mit dieser brennenden Attacke werde ich dich besiegen! "

Signum's eyes narrowed as the nature of that attack was made clear in her mind. Olivie intended to use that high risk, high reward technique that would end this battle. Now the question is how exactly would she execute it? Depending on the answer to that, it would affect the timing of her counterattack.

But the fact that she chose to use that type of move even when she had a lot of different options said something about her. That woman wanted to get her answer quickly, one way or the other.

"If that's how you wish to finish it, that's fine by me." Signum dug her feet into the ground, one hand secured around the handle of her sword and the other hand holding the sheath in a defensive posture. "Abandon your hesitation. Shatter the doubts that plague you… and show me the answer that you have found, Sankt Kaiser!"

And Olivie transformed into a blur, only to reappear within striking range before thrusting her palm forward.

"Die ultimativen… SHINING FINGAAAAAAA!"

It felt like all time stopped for a second the moment Signum saw Olivie phase back into her vision, right within striking distance. Even with the high speed approach of the technique, the earlier posture that the Kaiser had taken indicated that she would go for a direct strike.

In a sense, the Knight felt that she shouldn't be too surprised that her opponent would choose that type of finishing move to wager the outcome. The woman seemed to be simple, direct and honest. It was reflected by her choice of finishing technique.

Since Olivie chose her move to bet on to decide the outcome of the fight. Signum would have to respond in kind. And she knew just the move to do it. It was a technique that she had developed when serving a previous master which recently resurfaced in her memory, thanks to the intensity of this battle. Whether or not she would be able to execute the technique properly for maximum damage is another question. There would be a sheer amount of stress on both her body and device to achieve the attack's optimal momentum and she would need to sacrifice her device's sheath in order to bait her opponent.

But it was her only chance for victory.

As Olivie's glowing red hand shot forward, Signum drew her sword and moved to have the sheath intercept the blow. Just as expected, the glowing red gauntlet was breaking through the sheath's dense material fairly quickly but the attack speed stayed within her earlier estimates.

Now in order to get the best possible starting position for her technique, she would need to cast her initial spell to give her the ideal opening. That meant the gauntlet had to make contact at a specific point on her upper garment. Since the hand trajectory stayed steady, focused and did not deviate from the target, it made planning her next steps easier.

The weight carried in her left hand felt lighter which meant the sheath has been destroyed and the red gauntlet was on its way. With that in mind, she prepared to move in three…

Two…

One…

"Reaktor Säuberung."

Just as one of Olivie's fingertips brushed the fabric, the jacket detonated. All of the Kaiser's senses from sight to smell were thrown off temporarily as the magic that had been used by Signum ran its course. Uncertain of what exactly happened, Olivie chose to back off and put some distance between her and the explosion of magic that just happened a second ago. "What was that?"

"Just a new trick learned by an Old Knight," said her opponent from within the explosion before she darted forward to close the gap in distance and go for her counterattack. Already, the sword had consumed one cartridge and was covered in flames.

"Ätherbarriere!" For the first time in the duel, it was Olivie's turn to be on the defensive as she cast a defence spell, a variation of Panzerschild which had an additional defensive layer to back up the primary shield.

Something as simple as that would not bother Signum. With the opening slash, the first defensive layer was shattered easily. "TENRYU…"

'Reinforcing second layer!' Olivie poured whatever mana she could generate on such a quick notice in an attempt to protect herself but the momentum of the match had turned in favour of her opponent as the sword consumed a second cartridge to increase the intensity of the flames.

"… RETSU…"

'… …!' The second slash cut through the reinforced shield like a hot knife through butter, leaving the Kaiser in a poor position to defend herself. And to make things worse, Signum had just loaded her last cartridge into Laevatein, transforming it into a living inferno before it descended for the final blow.

"… … ISSEN!"

Hayate had a look of surprise on her face. "Where did she pull that move from?"

"I dunno but that attack nailed her! There's no way she could get up from that!" Seeing that woman get smacked down by Signum filled Vita with glee.

"We won't know for sure until the flames and the dust settle down so that the cameras can capture the images clearly," commented Carim.

"Still doesn't change the fact that she's toast!"

Touma didn't like the way that little girl was talking. "No way! Mom's tougher than that!"

"Are you blind or something, kid?" snapped Vita. "You saw the second slash break her guard and the third slash went through! She lost that fight!"

"No, she didn't!"

"Yes, she did!"

"She didn't!"

"She did!"

"Vita-chan's… really into arguing with Touma-kun, huh?" said Nanoha with a little laugh.

"I'm not arguing!" The small Knight crossed her arms. "I'm just trying to get the last word in. And the last word is that your mom got beaten!"

"She didn't get beaten! She didn't even activate her Super Mode!" complained Touma.

"S-super mode?" Olivie had already proven to be ridiculously strong but the idea of her reaching a higher level of power was mind boggling to Subaru. "What super mode?"

"Can it be…?" Yuuno gave it some thought as he searched his memory for whatever information he could recall about the Sankt Kaiser. It only took him a few seconds to come to a conclusion. "Her bloodline…"

"Eh?"

He glanced at the young corporal. "If Olivie is truly who she claims to be, then the power of her bloodline will manifest itself."

As the dust cleared, they could see the standing figure of Olivie Segbrecht. Her rainbow aura was surrounding her body while the blue garments of her armour had changed colour to red. And there wasn't any sign that Signum's last attack had done any significant damage.

Even if it looked a bit different from how Vivio had used it on the Cradle, Nanoha could still recognize that power. "The defensive fixed skill: Saint's Armour."

"Not only that. The computer readings have picked up the activation of a Relic inside the Combat Simulator. Origin… seems to be from that young lady's Linker Core." On cue, the camera zoomed in on Olivie's face, which remained neutral and focused on her opponent.

'Signum…' Hayate was clearly worried about how this would all turn out as were the rest of the occupants in the room.

Except for a certain young boy. "I told you that my mom wouldn't lose!"

"Touma!"