Chivalry of a Hollow Cryo Dragon Devil Knight

by Gaevontracey24

Ayato Kurozakuro Sparda will enter the world of Devils and learn more about himself as Rias Gremory's Pawn & Stella Vermillion Gremory Phenex's Queen , along with his mysterious family past which allows him to wield a legendary demonic sword... and he's the next Red Dragon Emperor. Harem with Stella,Rias and Mio being the main girls.

21. Chapter 21

Chapter 23

"" - Speaking

'' - Thought

※ ※ ※

"Hehehe. The plan was only to try out my hub and step on their toes a bit, but what an intense bit of retaliation that was. Goodness."

Somewhere in Japan, a gathering of social dropouts took place in a dark room, despite it being midday. There, a tall man sunk deeply into a sofa, sighing with a small grin on his face.

"I suppose that's Raikiri for you. Those puppets stood no chance against her."

"What an awful smell. Did it burn your arm?" a shadow behind the tall man asked, disdain in his voice.

"To a crisp. Thanks to that, this arm is useless." He showed the shadow his left arm. Raikiri's high-tension electric current had flowed through the magic wires that controlled the rockmen, burning the puppeteer's arm to the point that flesh was falling from it.

The destruction to his body was so severe that he wasn't likely to see a full recovery even if he were to use a Capsule, but despite that, the tall man didn't cry out in agony; his singsong tone gave the impression that he was closer to applauding Touka.

"Blame yourself for your own pointless actions. Wait for the eve of the festival, fool."

"Can't disagree with that. Hehehe."

"As a mere student, I know not the opinions of the Organization, but I expect you're a member of it. They should have taught you that it's best to refrain from recklessness before a battle."

"You're not wrong there, but there's no fun in waiting around all day. It's boring, and that's a bad thing.

I can't stand boredom—that's what makes me the Pierrot. I live to smile, day and night. Whether in good or in evil, to enjoy myself and smile is my sole duty, don't you know?"

"Difficult as ever to understand, I see."

"Heheheh, good. A predictable Pierrot would ruin the party, after all." Speaking with a tone that hardly tried to hide his frivolity, the tall man moved a finger on his right hand.

When he did, his scorched left arm fell clean off, as if it had been cut by a well-honed blade.

He didn't bleed, though—presumably because of the intense burns that reached deep into his body. "Oh, did you want this? I'm afraid it's well-done."

"No. Let that cat eat it, if you'd like."

"Heheheh. Careful, now. If you don't call it Sphinx like she wants, she'll never stop crying."

"You can glue wings onto a cat, but it's still a cat." The tall man sighed inwardly at the shadow's response. For such a young man, he was quite the stick-in-the-mud.

"Ooh, by the way, that Crimson Princess & Cryo Gale Sword Emperor you love so much was on the battlefield too. She & he looked worse for wear; perhaps she & he fell victim to a cold?"

"My, you're not worried about Them? I heard your only reason for being here was to meet Them."

"I don't know, nor do I care."

"Yes, that's the reason I'm playing along with your foolishness. But if a cold & a Seal is all it takes for them to be unable to join the tournament, then that only proves that the Crimson Princess & The Cryo Gale Sword Emperor was never worthy in the first place."

His words, piercing through the darkness, weren't wrong, but that was part of why the tall man realized how incompatible the two were. He was so unwilling to joke.

"Goodness me, you're so cold. I suppose boys these days have to be boring workaholics to attract girls."

"Keep your jokes to yourself, clown."

Maybe the shadow man was aware of their incompatibility, too; he spat those parting words and left the room. As his figure sank into the darkness, the tall man watched and sighed.

"You're no fun at all. You should learn from your Generation little brother and be more easygoing & Kind hearted."

The rain carried on incessantly for more than three hours; the sun was already beginning to set by the time Ayato and his friends could start descending the mountain. All of the clouds had disappeared the moment it stopped, however, allowing the sunset to dye the forest a rosy red.

Japan's weather is really something these days, everyone thought to themselves as they walked the road back to their base. Along the way, Stella, being carried on Ayato's back, asked a question.

"Hey, Touka? Are you sure it's okay to leave the person who controlled those rockmen alone?" Once the battle was over, the party had needed to run for the cave to escape the rain, and they had been stuck there since.

The identity of the person who had been controlling the puppets remained unknown, seemingly displeasing Stella. Of course, everyone present sympathized; they couldn't shake the feeling that their job had been left undone, with the root cause of the giant still shrouded in mystery.

"Well, I'd be glad to catch them if we could," Touka replied,

"but I don't think we can."

"Why not?"

"When I destroyed the hub, I used the bolt from Raikiri to calculate the distance between us and the puppeteer. They were too far away for us to find and capture."

"How far away?"

"I would estimate at least sixty miles."

"Buh-agh! Hack!" Stella choked when she heard the distance—so far that he might not have even been in the Tokyo metropolitan area. There was no way they would catch him from that far away.

"Ugh. Well, that's a surprise. Can puppet masters really control their puppets from that far away?"

"Normally, that would be impossible. Our special squads usually had Rank B puppet masters in them, but even they could only fully control their dolls at a distance of a third of a mile."

That was proof of one thing: Whoever was on the other end of that magic wire was no normal being. Making mention of that, Touka frowned slightly. "Maybe the fact that we didn't meet face-to-face was a stroke of luck for me."

"Sounds like it would be smart for us not to probe too deeply into it." Ayato expressed his understanding of her decision. Jumping into battle with an unknown enemy like that would be far too dangerous. Stella, on the other hand, wasn't one to be happy about letting an enemy get away. She cleared her throat and spoke. "It's kind of a letdown for this to end without us knowing the truth behind it, though."

"I had Toutokubara send a message to the director. If she deems it necessary, she'll take the next step herself. Since I wounded the enemy pretty heavily, I doubt they'll come back for more." What a crazy thing for Toudou to say so forthright.

A puppet master controlling their puppets from over sixty miles away was outrageous enough, but for Touka to be able to zap them from that same distance meant she was definitely a big deal. The group continued their chatter as they walked the twilight road down the mountain.

The way back was muddy from the rain, but they were Hagun's most distinguished students; none of them would be so clumsy as to slip.

Even Ayato, who was carrying Stella on his back, had slept well enough in the cave that, despite the initial fatigue from Cryo Chidori Stream, he was energetic enough to do so with ease. Their march went so well, in fact, that they were able to make it all the way back to the campground at the base of the mountain before the day had ended.

"Oh! Hey there, guys! Good to see you home safe!" Upon their return, they were greeted by Renren and Saijou, who had been waiting outside for them.

"I heard you got sick, Stella. Rough going, huh?"

"Sorry to burden everyone so much. This was my first time catching a cold, so I didn't even know what was happening."

"Usually it pretty much immobilizes you, but you were as energetic as ever, Stella, considering how you put a hole in the ground with just the birdie. There might be a point where you're just too strong, y'know?"

"It kinda sounds like you're making fun of me here." Yeah, this isn't the sick girl I remember. Ayato couldn't help but wonder why she had been playing badminton like it was tennis. Even so, he had a feeling Stella would

be fine in her selection battles despite her cold. "You've had quite the day, too, haven't you?" Saijou suddenly offered his sympathy to Ayato.

"First your partner collapses, and then you're attacked by a giant."

"Hahaha, it's cool. I'm used to having bad luck."

"I heard you were injured. It's nothing major, right?"

"It might swell a bit, but that should be it. I'm fine."

"That so?" Ayato nodded, but Saijou pulled a small vial out of his pocket and handed it over.

"What's this?"

"I come from a family of doctors; it's essentially a secret salve. It works well on bruises, so you should try it out."

"Oh, really? Thank you. I'll use it later." Ayato smiled and thanked Saijou for his kindness.

"Gaaay!" Utakata teased from behind them.

"Is this why you didn't come at me even when I was wearing nothing but my underwear in the council room?!" Renren exclaimed, joining in on the fun.

"Wh-Wh-What kind of foolishness are you two going on about?!" Touka shouted.

"They're just friends! I think so!"

"Why do you sound so unsure about it, Touka?" Stella asked. The conversation Ayato heard made his head ache even more than the wound did. "Sorry about that bunch. They're always that annoying, so don't worry about them."

"Hahaha." Saijou truly has admirable mental fortitude. He was a man who had seen a lot.

"Phew," Utakata sighed. "Anyway, I'm so tired from walking all day. Hungry, too. Hey, Touka! We should have a barbecue before we all go home!"

"Oh, good idea! I couldn't eat much for lunch, so I'm ready to chow down on some meat."

"Me too!" Stella and Renren agreed with Utakata's suggestion, but Touka shook her head.

"No. Stella is sick, so we need to take her to a doctor." "

Whaaat?!" the three of them cried in unison.

"Nuh-uh, just look at her!" Renren said, gesturing toward Stella. "She's in perfect health!"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"See, she says she's fine! I believe that, as an upperclassman and student council president, you should respect your underclassman's independence!"

"Complain all you want, but I'm not going to budge on this. You shouldn't underestimate a cold. Besides, this is an important time for Stella, and we want to take every possible precaution."

"Aww…"

Ayato could hear Stella's stomach growling behind him—she really had regained her appetite. Furthermore, her body temperature was nowhere near as high as it was when she was in the cabin with Ayato. She may well have been approaching a complete recovery, though such superhuman healing wasn't exactly a shock when it came to someone with magical power like Stella's.

"Toudou, while it is important to get her to a doctor, I'd say it's just as bad to ignore her hunger. She'll lack the energy she needs to fight off the cold."

"Ayato…!"

"Ooh, true, true! Good thinking, Kurogane!"

"Hmm, I suppose you're right. Though I'm not sure meat is the best food for someone who's recovering… Oh, fine. Once we get Stella to a doctor and get her some medicine, we can go to an all-you-can-eat barbeque. We have to go now, though, or the hospital will be closed."

"Thanks, Touka!" Renren cheered.

"Woo, meat!" "Misogi, let's go to Kokoen!" Stella suggested.

"Aw, yeah!" he replied.

"I'll make reservations right now!"

"No, stop!" Touka shouted.

"I said all-you-can-eat!" The student council really does get lively when they're all together. That was when Ayato noticed they were short people.

"Hey, where's Toutokubara?" "Kanata went to talk to a visitor or something," Renren explained. "Oops, I completely forgot to mention that," Saijou said. "Someone came to visit you, Kurogane."

"Me?"

"Yeah, apparently he went looking for you at the school before being told you were here." Ayato tilted his head. He couldn't think of any acquaintances that wanted to see him so badly they'd follow him all the way to Okutama.

"Saijou, what was his name?"

"Let me think…" Saijou pondered it for a moment.

"Oh, yeah. He called himself Akaza." Ayato stiffened up when he heard that name. Immediately after, a man's slimy voice reached his ears.

"Theeere you are. We finally meet!" He turned his eyes to see Kanata Toutokubara and the man she had been speaking with. "

It's been quite a while, Ayato. Mhmhm!" An ugly, obese, middle-aged man in a red suit smiled at him. Ayato knew that man; he had seen him too many times back home.

"Ayato, who is this guy?" Stella must have felt his back tense up, as she asked that question cautiously.

"This is Mamoru Akaza. He's the head of one of the Kurogane branch families," Ayato replied as he set her down. Stella could tell from just that information what the man was like. She glared at him threateningly, like a cat with its hackles raised.

"Um, is something wrong?" Kanata asked, clearly confused by the sudden aura of danger.

"Mhmhm, there's no need to look at me like that. I don't like this either, see? Imagine how I felt coming all the way to Okutama for a good-for-nothing like you." Undaunted by the pair's clear distaste for him, Akaza plastered a gracious smile on his face and spat venom at Ayato. The visitor's open contempt made even the student council abundantly aware that he was Ayato's enemy.

"What's with you?! Don't you see you're being rude?!" Touka couldn't bear to stand and watch what was happening. She glared at the rude visitor.

"Well, if it isn't the legendary Raikiri. Good day to you. Or I suppose it's 'good evening' by now, isn't it? I heard you risked life and limb to save Ayato. My sincerest apologies for him; he had one job, and he couldn't even accomplish that. As a representative of the family, I will apologize wholeheartedly. Here goes…"

"AND-Nobody wants you to do that—"

"I am sooo very sorry." Akaza was talking to Touka, but he clearly wasn't listening to her. He just kept on repeating his efforts to put Ikki down. Touka was at a loss for words, agape at his brazen hostility. The other council members were similarly shocked. A silence fell among the gathering until, unhesitatingly, Akaza cut right to the chase.

"Well, leaving that aside, how about we get down to brass tacks? I'd rather not waste time with all these mosquitoes around. Mhmhm. I'm here today with a very important bit of news for Ayato, from the Ethics Committee at the International Mage-Knight Federation's Japanese Branch."

Outwardly, he smiled, but through his narrowed eyelids, there was almost no light to be seen. It was clear to anyone that his "important business" was bad news. There was no way to get rid of him without asking, though, so Ayato pressed him for answers.

"What could you possibly want to say to me now?"

"Mhmhm. Perhaps showing would be faster than telling. Here, have a look at the evening paper." Akaza handed over several newspaper articles.

Did they have something to do with Ikki? He looked at the first one, conscious of the pounding of his heart. There, on the front page, was a picture of Ayato and Stella kissing in a forest.

Stella was transfixed on the photograph, wide-eyed. "Ayato, th-that's us!" It was as clear as day. That was the forest clearing where Ayato and the gang trained every morning. The photo, taken while they were kissing, was plastered on the front page of each of the newspapers. Their secret relationship had been exposed by someone in the school.

"Great picture, right? Look at the quality on your faces there. And this is a picture at nighttime, at that! Cameras these days are crazy, huh? Mhmhm. You don't know yet since you've been here in Okutama, but everyone's going crazy over it. Putting your grubby hands on a royal guest is unprecedented misconduct, after all."

"H-Hold it!" Stella snatched the papers away and nearly yelled.

"Wh-What's the deal with these articles?! It's all bull!" She pointed at the headlines in her fury.

The Man Who Stole a Princess' Purity, Emperor Vermillion Enraged!, A New Problem in Japan-Vermillion Relations?! All of the headlines were seemingly trying to exaggerate the importance of their relationship. Comments from the Kurogane family about Ayato were printed, as well. They claimed that he had always had loose morals, that he was a problem child who had nearly torn the family apart, that he was a fundamentally evil person, and even that he was a philanderer with a chain of debauched relationships under his belt. They were all baseless lies, but the newspapers printed those lies as if they were fact.

"'Ayato Kurogane has always been a notoriously terrible person'?!" Though Stella couldn't keep quiet through her rage, Akaza's self-satisfied smirk never left his face.

"No, honestly, it's all true. That just means you didn't know, Princess. Did you expect him to tell you about what a waste of space he is? We, however, have known this man for quite a long time. It pains me to insult a relative, really, but this man has been a delinquent for as long as we can remember. Assault, theft, blackmail—nothing's too low for him. Look, there's even testimony from a victim here. Mhmhm!"

"It's all made up! Anyone who knows anything about Ikki would know that he'd never do anything like that!"

"Mhmhm. Regardless of your thoughts, Princess, this is how the facts have been published; it's clear what the masses think. Even among the Federation, this information has caused countless people to question Ayato's qualifications as a knight. As a result, the Japanese Branch has decided to open an emergency inquiry into this matter. With it, we will take a comprehensive look into things, and should we find that he isn't up to our standards, we will petition to have his name expunged from the register of knights. I am here today to bring Ayato to the venue where we'll be holding the inquiry." Akaza's attitude made it clear to Stella that a simple scandal wasn't the end— the Kurogane family was using it as a front to ruthlessly attack Ayato with their hatred and damage his standing as a knight. By taking advantage of the scandal, they planned to go so far as to revoke Ayato's license as a knight and have him exiled. They were doing everything in their power to suppress the so-called failure that dared to disobey the Kurogane family.

"You will come, won't you, Ayato? Mhmhm!" Akaza declared in his slimy voice and put his hands on Ayato's shoulders.

"This is a formal summons from the Ethics Committee. You'd be wise not to ignore it. Mhmhm, well, if you do, you'll find yourself in a very disadvantageous position." In response, Ayato remained silent for a moment.

"Fine, then," he finally answered, giving Akaza a resolute look of defiance as he spoke. When she looked into his eyes, Stella sensed the great malice and accompanying trials that awaited her boyfriend.

"Eh~, everyone, I sincerely thank you for accepting this call for an emergency meeting even though we're so busy today~. As for this meeting today, even though Ayato Kurogane-kun here today is an adult who's gone through his coming of age, he has produced as absurd a scandal as having an illicit sexual relationship with a state guest, and voices that call his accountability and ethics as an adult into question have risen in the Japanese branch. He is receiving various privileges that are not bestowed upon student knights or ordinary fifteen year-old boys.

For this reason, we greatly demand a sense of responsibility balancing those privileges.

Accordingly, the Ethics Committee is also considering this view, and for this occasion, we have concluded that there is an opportunity to formally and closely examine whether Ayato Kurogane-kun's qualities as a knight is under question. Though we know you are all busy, please favor us with your understanding and cooperation."

The skyscraper of the League of Mage-Knight Nations, Japanese Branch. The ethics directors of student knights, of mage-knights, was on the tenth underground floor there, as was the section controlled by the Ethics Committee that petitioned for things like disciplinary action and expulsion when necessary, or act as military police.

At a room in that section, the chairman of the Ethics Committee, Akaza, bowed his head toward the gathered middle-aged gentlemen, and he made a stiff and smug smile at Ayato Kurogane who stood there with upright honesty.

"―Well, let us open this inquiry meeting. Everyone. Please take your seats."

But there was no chair anywhere near Ayato. Only the gentlemen sat down. It was plainly harassment.

Ayato had been forced to remain standing for this meeting that would last how many hours?

Well, it was expected, and he wasn't so poorly trained that he would surrender at that degree of discomfort, so it was no big deal, but…. …At any rate, the air in this place is really stagnant, huh?

Ayatosurveyed the indoor room that had practically no illumination.

Inside the room, a U-shaped table was set up as if to surround him, and the suited gentlemen were sitting, beginning with Akaza.

Three people in front of Ayato.

To his left and right, one person each.

Five in total.

Because everyone there was dressed in red suits, Ayato knew they were all people of the Ethics Committee.

"No need to be so uptight. Despite what I said in the beginning, every one of us here is your ally." Akaza mocked Ayato who felt like probing the Ethics Committee's combat ability.

"This inquiry meeting is not a place for censuring you.

We will not just properly hear the excuse from you who created an unprecendented scandal in carrying out an illicit sexual relationship with a state guest, but also the explanation kindly given by your stepfather the director.

In other words, there is no one here but your allies. Isn't that right, everyone?"

"Indeed. Everyone here believes it would be a pity to decide on expulsion whatever your explanation is.

Because somehow, you've pushed yourself to appear in the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival so extremely hard that you'll make it with just another step.

We don't want to nullify such tenacity."

"…Thank you very much." How dare Akaza say such insincere things so unreservedly? It was admirable, in a sense.

"Well then, Ayato-kun, now that you understand that we're your allies, first of all let us review the facts. It's true that Ayato-kun and the second princess of the Vermillion Empire, Miss Stella Vermillion, are in a relationship, correct?"

"Yes, that's true."

"He he he. It's good to be honest. When did that association begin, more or less?"

"It began at the commencement of the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival selection battles. The night of my first battle in a while."

It wasn't like he was telling a lie. Therefore Ayato answered honestly. However, every person on the committee made a scornful expression.

"Oh, you started the socializing extremely quickly, didn't you."

"Hmph. Youngsters today are indeed like this. Doing terribly rash and blind things."

"In our youth, we spent more time building a mutual relationship first, after all."

"When it comes to young people today, they're all like monkeys, I see. Why do they do these things that end in unintended pregnancy and shotgun weddings?"

"Truly lamentable." They were talking entirely like Ayato and Stella were having premarital sex.

Of course, Ayato had done no such thing.

Up to this day, they had been socializing as nothing more than a platonic couple.

That was what he and Stella decided for their relationship after serious consideration.

They understood that her position, being a princess, was very delicate.

Therefore this kind of false accusation was infuriating.

"Sorry to be rude, but we haven't been doing anything like what you and the newspapers―"

"Ayato-kun, Ayato-kun. I know that you have things you want to say, but please speak only when given permission, okay? If you don't, you'll give a bad impression, you know. He he he."

"…Please forgive my rudeness." His statement was interrupted by Akaza, and Ayato reluctantly bowed his head in apology. The man with a goatee who was sitting at Ayato's left side and looking at him hatefully asked him a question with a rather curt tone. "Hmph. Since it looks like you want to say something no matter what, I'll ask a question. You didn't think about how absurd it is to have an illicit sexual relationship with another country's princess, right? It's so extremely dangerous that it's capable of creating an international problem. I understand that you're at the age where you have too much sexual desire, but your sense in choosing a partner to have fun with wasn't working, right?"

"My intentions in associating with Stella was not to play around. We love each other sincerely."

"Hmph. You really are a child."

"He he he. I was like that as well, you know. The girl that's your first love seems like a once-in-a-lifetime partner. It's so good to be young, yes."

"I'll take your word for it, but both Stella and I are already adults who've had our coming of age ceremonies. We even have the right to marry. Wouldn't it be quite normal to think seriously about our mutual relationship?"

"Hair-splitting, are you? Such an extremely rebellious attitude."

"You, that kind of manner isn't good."

"It'll make a bad impression, I said. He he he." Akaza filled something in upon a sheet of paper close at hand. T

hat sight, and seeing the middle-aged people surrounding him with the attitude of not listening to his points―

I knew it would be like this, but… what a cruel farce. Ayato sighed in his heart.

While questioning Ayato's accountability as an adult, they were completely refusing to recognize the legal rights Ayato has as an adult.

Rather than treating Ayato as an adult, it was only a scene for their own convenience.

Those indications from the people of the Ethics Committee made Ayato convinced. This was not a place where his qualities as a knight was being carefully examined.

This place, it had already concluded that Ayato Kurogane does not have the nature of a knight, and it was definitely an inquisition to collect material for reinforcing that conclusion.

After that, Ayato brought over the one chair that was in the room confining him. Itsuki sat in that chair, facing Ayato across the table.

They faced each other for five minutes. Up to then, the two people did not ask questions or converse.

Th-This is awkward…. Ayato felt a strange sweat appearing on his back. Well, it was understandable.

They had just met with that kind of impression, but moreover, Ayato hadn't met his stepfather Itsuki face to face since he was four years old.

Honestly, after meeting him all of a sudden, he had no idea what to talk about. He didn't know what kind of face he should show.

Or for that matter, what does this person want with me to come here after such a long time in the first place? And as Ayato tried to read Itsuki's thoughts….

"Ayato." Itsuki broke the silence and spoke the first words.

"Y-Yes." Ayato responded in a voice with a little bit of excitement in it. The sweat on his back increased. His chest began a strange throbbing.

Just… what was this person going to say with his next words?

Because he's the kind of man who goes too far, there's a bit of anticipation―

"You, do you love Shizuku as a woman?"

"Bu!"

"Incest is forbidden. It's immoral, but more than anything else, you've been together since she was born so you shouldn't see her as―"

"W-Wait, wait! That was me doing a simulation of my greetings to Stella's parents! Shizuku is very important to me, but I'll never look at my little sister as someone of the opposite sex!"

"Is that so? Good." This was bad. Ayato could've just been thought of as a very dangerous person. Itsuki looked like he was about to give a very serious lecture.

No, if he was really in such a situation, that response probably would be reasonable…."

―However, thanks to Ayato yelling out so impatiently, some of the stiffness in the room had been removed.

That they must be able to do something. Becoming arrogant, they try to do things and forget their own place. And it brings about unproductive waste to the majority of cogs in the mechanism. If you want to know why rank is absolutely fixed and not corrected every now and then, it's to make overturning it an extremely rare thing. That kind of unproductive effort must be protected against. That was why I told you this. You can't do anything, so don't try."

Itsuki spoke those words with disinterest. The principles behind the conduct of people like Itsuki existing in them. Today, they made Ayato understand people like Itsuki Kurogane for the first time.

….

Akaza had skillfully blocked Ayato's one point of escape, making him realize that the inquiry was just an excuse to isolate him from Hagun. Akaza had never thought simple mental torture would be enough to make Ayato admit defeat; it was all meant to coerce Ayato to agree to an unwinnable battle. That was their scheme.

"You'll stand and fight like a man, I assume?" Whenever the word "duel" was uttered, logic and justice were thrown out the window—everything rode on the results of the fight.

That had been a tradition among knights since the dawn of time.

Ayato had done nothing wrong, yet losing his duel with Touka would put him in the wrong.

That would mean losing everything. It was an unfair, awful idea; he had much to lose, and absolutely nothing to gain.

He would just be given back the freedom that he was meant to have from the start. It was so, so unfair.

"…Okay. I'll do it," Ayato finally answered, his face dripping with bitterness. With all routes of escape cut off, doing so was his only option.

"Heh. Ha Ha! Hahahaha! Wonderful, wonderful! Imagine if you had said no! Mhmhm! This is what boys are all about! Did you hear what he just said, everyone?! The result of our inquiry rides on his performance in tomorrow's duel! We make dealings with our swords, just like the knights of old! That way, nobody can object to the noble decision that is reached! I declare this inquiry complete!" The Cold One, in duress, was made to cast himself into a more hopeless battle than ever before.

His opponent was Raikiri, who's undefeated close range prowess may have surpassed even his own. Against an opponent who was both powerful and in perfect health, Ayato would drag his own worn-down body into a battle that would decide his very future. He remembered what Utakata had said to him:

"The two of you simply carry different weights."

It was true. Someone like him could never begin to imagine the sheer weight of the hopes and dreams Touka's delicate shoulders supported. It didn't stop with the kids from the orphanage, either; she had earned the admiration of countless people with her previous Seven Stars performance. Could Ayato really win against someone who had so much to be proud of?

Could his sword, guided by naught but a worthless, hollow boy who didn't even have the trust of his stepfather, overcome her?

….

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm doin' just peachy. Yeah. I think tomorrow's battle's the last one for the whole school. Huh? Yer comin' all the way to Tokyo? Ya made a banner for me, too?! Yer jumpin' the gun!

"By the way, this year's Seven Stars in Osaka… Yep. Whether I win 'or lose, I think I'll come 'n visit for a while after the selection battles either way. Yeah. All right, bye. Thanks for the veggies. Tell everyone else I said thanks as well. Take care of yourself, Mom. See ya."

After saying goodbye, Touka turned off her student notebook's phone function. Her sweat adhered to the liquid-crystal display, which showed the total call time of fifty minutes. She had been on the phone for far too long

"How's the matron doing?"

Utakata, sitting on the student council room's sofa, asked about the person on the other end of the call before taking a bite of a fist-sized tomato. That person was the matron who ran the Wakaba House.

"Pretty well. Almost as healthy as she used to be, actually."

The matron of the orphanage—the elderly woman Touka called "Mom"—had fallen victim to a heart attack the year before. At the time, Touka would spend whole nights crying, and even the usually easygoing Utakata had been pale with worry. Based on how she sounded on the phone, however, her condition had settled to the point that she actually sounded much better.

"So they already made a banner for you?"

Touka hadn't even secured the last of her victories, let alone been chosen as a representative yet, but the matron and the orphans had already made a banner to wave at the Seven Stars. It left Touka speechless.

"I swear, they're always so hasty."

"That's just how much they believe in you. You're their hope—the hero of Wakaba House, Raikiri."

Utakata opened the box of vegetables the house had sent and handed a photograph over to Touka. The children in the photo were smiling, mud covering their faces as they harvested vegetables.

On the back of the image, they had done their best to write words of encouragement using letters they had just learned.

To the children of Wakaba House, Touka was most certainly a hero. Parentless like them, a child of the House like them, she was fighting—and winning—with dignity in front of the entire world.

She was admired by all the orphans. They wanted to be shining beacons of hope, just like her. She continued inspiring them to dream, and to keep chasing their dreams.

Touka was well-aware of the effect she had on them, of course, so she refused to lose. She couldn't bear to. Their hopes weren't a source of pressure for her; rather, they gave her greater strength. That was the strongest part of Touka Toudou, the great Raikiri.

I'll read this later. Touka held the letter lovingly against her heart before putting it into her bag. Then, she directed her attention to the cardboard box full of vegetables. Tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants—it was full of summer vegetables harvested by the orphans. Much of the harvest was scraggly and misshapen, but it filled her with an indescribable warmth.

"Wow! Look, Uta! This eggplant is so big and juicy! I bet it'd go great in eggplant curry."

"Yeah. It's so dark, thick, and juicy, right? Heheh."

"C-Come on! Quit that creepy old man shtick!"

"Hahaha! There's so much here that it'll rot before we get through it all, though. We should take some to the cafeteria tomorrow." Utakata's innocent words caused Touka's face to quickly cloud over. She had remembered something unpleasant.

"…Tomorrow, huh?" Earlier, Touka had been contacted by Director Kurono Shinguuji with an update regarding her opponent for the next day. Specifically, that her new opponent would be the man entangled in worldwide controversy: the Worst One. Touka couldn't help but feel that there was something foul afoot. When pressed about it, Kurono was open with the truth. The sheer adversity that Ayato was being forced to confront was beyond description. The malice enveloping him had put him into the worst condition possible, and they intended to pit him against a fighter like Touka while in such a condition.

Needless to say, Touka was reluctant at best. "Are you gonna accept the duel, Touka?" Utakata knew how she felt. He asked his question in an apprehensive manner, as her face still clouded over with distaste, to which she looked down.

"I don't have any say in the matter. Like the director said, this is nothing more than my final selection battle." Though Ayato was going into their duel with everything on the line, it was just another selection battle to Touka;

a mere change in opponent wouldn't force her to risk anything else in this battle. In addition, extenuating circumstances had forced the school to change selection battle opponents many times, so Touka didn't have much room to protest.

"But you hate that you have to do it, right?"

"Yeah…" A girl as kind-hearted as her couldn't so easily ignore the lump in her throat, regardless of whether she had been given a choice. That was why she took one single measure.

Knock, knock. Right on schedule, a visitor knocked on the door of the student council room. "Who's here at this time of night?"

"I asked her to come. Come on in!"

"Thank you." The girl who opened the door was reminiscent of a porcelain doll. Shizuku Kurogane, the one known as Lorelei, who had fought so desperately against Touka once before.

"Talk about an unexpected visitor," Utakata said.

"'Unexpected' is what I should be saying. Imagine my surprise when the person who ruined my selection battle record called me here late at night."

"Haha, true, true. Hey, want a tomato? They're really sweet."

"I already brushed my teeth, so no, thank you. I assume you didn't have me come over here just to offer me tomatoes, so what do you want from me, President?" Shizuku hurried the subject along. She knew she was being childish, but she couldn't quell her discomfort when faced with the person who had crushed her dream of going up onto the international stage with her brother. Touka could more or less grasp how she felt, so she got straight to the point of why she called Shizuku.

"Well, the director just spoke with me, and… I decided I should tell you about it, since it affects you as well." She told Shizuku about the sudden change in her matchup, and how Ayato was being forced to bet his own future on their battle. With every awful truth that was revealed to her, Shizuku's expression grew more and more furious.

"Rgh! Damn lowlife!" Shizuku's jade eyes shone with rage as she swore at the people responsible.

"So, are you going to fight my battered and beaten brother?"

"Even if I'm the student council president, I'm still just a student. I objected as best I could, but I don't have the power to change my matchup."

Touka was reluctant to fight Ayato, but it wasn't her decision to make. That was why she had summoned Shizuku—

"I had no choice" wouldn't solve the problem.

"That's why I have a request for you, a member of his family." "Do you, now?"

"Yes. Shizuku, could you please ask your brother to withdraw from the battle?"

"…What?"

"I'm told that he's doing really badly; pneumonia at best, and possibly much worse. To put it bluntly, he's absolutely not in any condition to fight. In the few days that we've known each other, I've seen what kind of knight Ayato Kurogane is, and I can tell that he'll drag his battered body to the arena if he has to. He's seriously going to try to win against me, because he's certain that he can win and determined to do it.

"I'm not the type to pull any punches against a foe, either. The moment he enters the arena, I plan to fight him with my entire heart and soul. If some unfortunate accident happened as a result…" She's actually serious. A shudder ran through Shizuku's whole body.

Behind those glasses, the light shining in Touka's eyes made it all too clear that she hadn't exaggerated at any point; it wasn't out of the question that she would accidentally kill Ayato. Touka had summoned Shizuku because she knew that every event could come to pass.

"Please, I need you to stop him. I believe you're the only one who can do it, because you're his only family aside from his Aunt,Parents & older Sister." Shizuku didn't respond immediately. She considered what she was meant to do, and what would be most right for her to do.

"Let me sleep on it." Still unsure, it took all her strength to squeeze out those few words.

When Shizuku left the room, Touka sighed, exhaling all the unease within her. "Whether I win tomorrow, or Kurogane withdraws from the battle…

Will I be able to go to the Seven Stars with pride in my heart?" She remembered the picture of the orphans' smiles, along with the attached message. Could she fight a battle that would live up to their honest expectations of her? She couldn't shake the anxiety the question created.

"Touka." While she worried, her hand was enveloped in a small warmth. Utakata had grasped her hand with his and was looking up at her from his much shorter height.

"I know it feels like everything's gotten ridiculous because of some selfish adults' circumstances, but you have to focus on yourself. Fight a fight that you can be proud of, because that's what we all love about you. I'm sure that's what Ayato wants too." Utakata was confident in that belief. No matter what anyone else thought, it didn't matter;

Touka just had to do what was right for her.

After Utakata spoke, Touka's lips finally curled into a smile. Her duty was to put her all into what she could do. That's all I can do, after all.

"You're right. Thanks, Uta. Okay!" she cried, slapping her own cheeks. Pain shot through her, pushing out all of her worry and distress. It wasn't time for her to be worried. If he'll crawl his way up to fight me, then I'll offer no mercy.

Touka would fight Ayato mercilessly, with every ounce of might and honor within her as a knight. And she would win. She was sure to. I'll win and move on to the Seven Stars with pride in my heart! When the long night was over, Hagun Academy greeted the final day of its fateful Seven Stars Battle Festival selection battles.

"Whew. Summer's only just started and it's already this hot. This one's gonna be a scorcher." The morning of the final selection battle, the stationmaster of a train station near Hagun Academy wiped the sweat from his brow as he swept.

The sky was clear and blue, pouring the sun's inescapable, oppressive heat all over the land. It was just the type of weather that made his tight, dark-blue uniform difficult to put up with.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of an approaching train, so he looked up to see a local train arriving at the platform. It slowly approached, and once it stopped, the doors opened.

The stationmaster took three steps back, getting out of the way of the alighting customers. Not that anyone would be getting off here at this time of day.

The only place accessible from the station was Hagun itself. Students might venture elsewhere on weekends, but there was no reason for the students of Hagun, a school with a mandatory dorm policy, to be at the station on a weekday morning.

Hm? A single man, bent over limply emerged sluggishly from the open door. An old man? Rare for someone to be here on a weekday. Who was that man? The stationmaster directed his gaze at the old man with vague interest.

He was at a loss for words; it was actually a young man—maybe even just a boy—who'd alighted. The boy should have been at an age where his energy was at its peak, but instead, he slowly crept out of the train, hunched over.

The stationmaster wasn't shocked merely because it was a boy, though; he was astonished by the awful state the boy, Ayato Kurogane, was in.

"Haah… Haah…!" His frantic gasps were hoarse, and words couldn't describe how pale his face was. Behind his disheveled bangs, his murky eyes showed no signs of life.

Worst of all, the amount of sweat that coated his forehead and dripped from his jaw was immense. Even with the intense heat, train cars were cooled; a healthy person wouldn't sweat inside one.

"H-Hey, are you okay?!"

"Yeah… Y-Yes, sir, I'm… fine."

"You don't look fine! I'll call an ambulance. Oh, hey! You're that guy!" The stationmaster was startled when he saw Ayato's face. T

he boy standing before him was, according to the papers, the one who had seduced and toyed with Princess Vermillion. Clear disgust showed on the stationmaster's face for a moment—disgust that Ayato didn't fail to notice.

"Thanks for your… concern, but… Sorry, I'm in a hurry, so…" He bowed slightly to the stationmaster before walking past him, exiting the station.

"Ah…" Ayato slowly disappeared into the distance, his steps shaky. Watching him, the stationmaster was bewildered. He seemed like a really polite kid. The media had painted him as a boy whose own family had admitted was a notoriously problematic child, but after seeing him in person, the stationmaster was unsure that he was even the same person.

Leaving the station,Ayato continued onto the road leading to Hagun. It was sloped gently, and the distance was just over half a mile. It was the same road Ayato jogged with Stella every morning. Normally, the hills would be no issue for him, but given his condition, it was a Herculean feat just to trudge through them. His lungs felt as if they would burst from even the smallest breath. They refused nearly all of the oxygen offered to them. It hurts so much… He at least wanted to breathe, so he opened his mouth and gasped for air, but a sharp pain in his inflamed lungs forced him to expel all the air he'd just inhaled.

"Ack! Gah! Hagh!" His lips were dyed a bluish purple due to the extreme lack of oxygen in his blood. The world was so indistinct as a result of the fever and suffocation that Ayato might as well have been unconscious.

In place of his weakened ego, the drug's hallucinogenic properties had given him cowardice. I'm supposed to fight Raikiri like this? I'll never beat her. It was impossible. Tantamount to suicide, even. That much had become all but clear; a hollow man with a hollow sword couldn't bring down someone like her.

I just wanna go to bed… Complaints floated through Ayato's mind as he slowly climbed the hill, all alone except for the absurd heat and the cicadas' chirps. Surrendering himself to oblivion seemed an alluring prospect.

"Ah…" He tripped on a tiny pebble, falling down into the asphalt without even attempting to catch himself.

No… He had to get up. If he didn't get up, he wouldn't make it to the battle in time. If he didn't make it in time, he would lose. If he lost… I wonder what will happen next. He could feel his mind dissolving into goop.

The confusion from the drug and the haze from the high fever made Ayato unable to pinpoint what he was doing or where he was going. Somewhere in the pool that once was his brain, Ayato noticed something impossible in the periphery of his vision: snow. At some point, the sky had darkened, ushering in a flurry of large snowflakes.

That was impossible, though; it couldn't have been snowing in the middle of summer. He couldn't believe it.

So cold…

Ayato was chilled to the bone. Come to think of it, didn't it snow back then, too? The cold made him remember the day that his family had gathered to celebrate the new year. The day he had run away from home, unable to stand the pain anymore. Nobody had gone out to find him. Nobody had worried about him. He had just laid there, curled up in the snow, alone. I'm still… the same as I was that day.

What was he doing? Unwanted, unsuccessful, unable to change anything. Ayaot had remained curled up in that snowstorm for all that time. What was it he was trying to do, battered as he was? He didn't know.

He couldn't remember anything. All he could feel was the helpless sluggishness of his body and the weight of his eyelids, until his consciousness disappeared into the cold depths.

The final day of selection battles saw much fewer battles than usual; the only people fighting were the twelve remaining undefeated students. As a result, there were more spectators than ever, especially in the first training field, where the duel between Raikiri and the Worst One would be fought. Students all throughout the stands raised their voices in surprise.

"Wow, so many people!"

"Well, duh. Everyone's been clamoring to see the Raikiri and Cold One matchup."

"Huh? Are those cameras down there?"

"Probably the news. You know what's been going on."

"Yeah, the scandal with the Cold One and the Crimson Princess. But I thought the media wasn't allowed inside the school."

"The Federation has a major part in this, so maybe they made an exception?"

"Maybe. Hey, do you guys believe those articles?"

"They're definitely dating. Neither of them has denied it, and even if they had, they were suspiciously close."

"Come to think of it, didn't she confess to him during his fight with The Hunter?"

"Not that article! I'm talking about the one where Cold One's family testified. They said he's been a piece of crap since he was a kid and that now he's some playboy or something."

"Oh, that one."

"I don't think I believe it."

"Me neither, actually. My Device is a katana, just like his, so I go to his sessions during lunch and learn swings and maneuvers from him all the time. He always seemed so nice"

"I go to those too! In the courtyard, right? He started giving those lessons because his classmates kept bugging him."

"Yeah, that's it. I've met him in person, so I don't believe a word of what those papers say. After all, even though it doesn't help him at all during selection battles, he keeps patiently teaching us. I definitely can't imagine him trying to trick the Crimson Princess."

"But the testimony came from his family, y'know? Shouldn't that mean it's true? It's not like they have any reason to lie about one of their own. Like, I'm sure they'd lie to cover for him, but definitely not to make him look bad."

"Hm, I dunno." Looking down on the general bustle of the crowd—and the questions and doubts relating to Ayato mixed in—from the very top of the bowl-shaped arena, an amazed Nene Saikyou,Ayato's Master spoke to Kurono Shinguuji, Ayato's Aunt & Guardian, who stood next to her.

"Huh, I guess not all the kids blindly believe the news like sheep." "Yep. Those who know Kurogane especially lean away from the official story."

"You can tell at a glance that he's harmless."

"But the truth doesn't matter anymore." Kurono had a sour look on her face. What was right or wrong, truth or lies, fact or fiction regarding the Ayato controversy was riding on this battle. No matter how right Ayato was, and no matter how wrong Akaza was, the only way for Ikki to prove himself was through his sword.

"I can't believe they seriously did it. Bunch of bastards." Even Kurono hadn't imagined they would pull such a stunt. She groaned at her naïveté for thinking that they just had to hold out until Stella's father arrived.

"Mhmhm. I'll take that as a compliment." The two of them heard a peculiarly delighted voice nearby. They both looked in the direction of the voice to find a keg-shaped man wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Hello, ladies. Hot out here today, isn't it?"

"Chairman Akaza." When Akaza appeared, their well-shaped faces both twisted into scowls. He certainly wasn't someone they would welcome with open arms.

"What do you want from us, you red fox?" Saikyou asked with a prickly voice.

"Now, now, no need to bare your fangs," Akaza replied with a smile.

"I want nothing; I just happened to meet a man who wanted me to find you two. Here you are, sir." He had brought a small, old man in a kimono and hakama pants to see them.

"Oh, there you are! With a campus this big, it's just impossible to find anything."

"Ugh, it's this old shit!" The first to react was Saikyou. That was, of course, because the man before them was the God of War, Torajirou Nangou. At ninety-two years old, he was one of the greatest Mage-Knights in Japan. He was also Saikyou's teacher.

"Ohoho. My lovable apprentice, I see you're as foul-mouthed as ever. I find that pretty cute, truth be told."

"'C-Cute'? D-Don't be such a creep!"

"You're blushing, Nene. Seems like someone's secretly happy."

"Wh-Why would I be happy about being creeped on by a dried-up old shit like you?!" She's so dishonest. No matter how hard she tried, Saikyou's words alone wouldn't lessen the redness in her face. She had a long history with the man, and held him in greater esteem than she did anyone else in the world.

"Good to see you again as well, Kurono. Last time I saw you, your belly was bulging quite a bit since your husband died five years ago. I assume the delivery went well?"

"Yes, fortunately."

"Good, good. But, heh, now that you've given birth, you've gotten a fair bit sexier. Especially around your hips & Breasts here—"

"You old shit! Who do you think you are, coming here and leering at my friend?! I'll kill you!"

"Ohoho. Nene, you're not getting any younger. Maybe instead of screeching at me, you should learn from Kurono how to have sex appeal. It'll be too late before long."

"Oh, trust me, Master Nangou. It's already far too late for her." "I-I-It is not! I'm just trying to have fun! It's stupid to tie yourself down to just one man! Why are you on his side, anyway, Kuu-chan?!"

Because you're always cuter when he's around.

Kurono felt the urge to tease her even more, to make up for all the times she was decidedly uncute.

Not that she would tell Saikyou that, though.

"So, Master Nangou, why are you here today?"

Saikyou yelled at them in indignation for ignoring her, but that made Kurono ignore her even more as she spoke to Nangou. Her question was essentially just lip service, as Kurono could more-or-less grasp why he had come.

"I'm here to watch Touka's crowning moment, of course. Yes, I could've waited until the Festival, but how could I not drag myself here when her opponent is Kurogane & Nene's Student ?

Thought so. Nangou wasn't just Saikyou's master; he was Touka's as well. He had noticed how resourceful she was not long prior and had been teaching her swordplay ever since. Raikiri, Touka's signature move that had become her nickname, was his own Otogiri optimized to fit her.

Beyond that, however, there was an even more important reason for his visit.

"Mhmhm. Master Nangou, you were a contemporary of the great hero Ryouma Kurogane

. Some even call you lifelong rivals. I'm not surprised you're interested."

Nangou was ninety-two years old. He and Samurai Ryouma had been comrades in World War II, but they were rivals nonetheless. Selection battle matchups weren't normally circulated outside the school, but due to the mass media's influence, the matchup between Raikiri and the Cold One had been leaked to the public.

Once he knew that his beloved disciple and his old rival's descendant & Former Disciple's Apprentice would be competing against each other, there was no way Nangou would miss the opportunity to witness their battle

Oh, but Master Nangou," Akaza began with a mischievous smile plastered on his face, "I believe this battle may just be interrupted."

"What?!" Kurono's eyebrows tensed up at the indescribable malice that lay in his voice. Almost simultaneously, an announcement echoed through the venue.

"May I have everyone's attention. The time has come for the battle between Touka Toudou and Ayato Kurogane to start, but Ayato Kurogane has not yet arrived at his waiting room. According to the selection battle rules, if he does not arrive within the next ten minutes, it will result in a loss by default."

"As I recall, Chairman Akaza, you were supposed to bring my Little Nephew here by car. You told me I didn't need to come and meet him.

"Mhmhm, well, I am sorry. I juuust happened to forget, see. Deepest apologies. But the Federation branch office isn't very far from here; I'm sure he could make it by himself if he took the train. Well, he didn't seem to be in peak condition, so who knows? Maybe he dropped dead along the way? Mhmhm!"

Jackass.

The discomfort welling up within Kurono caused her to clench her fist hard enough to stop the blood from flowing through it. She felt a smaller hand touch hers as it trembled. Saikyou looked up at her frowning friend and held a fan over her own mouth, whispering so that only Kurono could hear.

"Don't lose your cool, Kuu-chan. No matter what the details are, Ayato accepted this duel. Now's not the time for us to butt in; we'll act once it's all over."

"Yeah. You're right," Kurono said, unraveling her fist with the knowledge that Saikyou was just as angry as she was. The two women were determined that, regardless of Ayato's victory or defeat, the red fox would not leave in one piece.

Meanwhile, the red fox in question watched the arena with glee as the timer ticked down, unaware of their desire to end him.

Everything was going according to his plan—Ayato would be banned from the Federation, and if everything was brought to a close in a way that pleased Itsuki, he would be promoted from Chairman of the Ethics Committee to Head of Public Relations. To a brighter, more open world, unlike the underground part of the Federation building.

Then I can finally be free from the role of the bad guy. The Ethics Committee, often criticized for being akin to secret police, had been a position of glory back in the military police era. Since then, however, it has gained a much darker connotation.

An upright man would never choose to live in obscurity the way they did, and Akaza was no different. Apologies to you, Ayato, but I'll have to crush you beneath my feet. He didn't care what happened; even if Ayato were killed, it meant nothing. It wasn't his problem.

Ayato's mind remained in that snowstorm. While he lay huddled amidst the falling snow, he remembered how it all began. It was a day much like the current one—one that chilled him to the bone after the Death of His Family.

That was the day Ayato Kurogane was truly born. He had met Ryouma Kurogane, and for the first time in his life, he had been told to believe in himself. It had made him so happy

Several months later, Ryouma had died of old age, but his words had lived on in Ayato's heart. He had hoped to one day, when someone else had hit the wall known as talent and had given up, unable to progress, be the kind of person who could have offered words of encouragement to them. Ever since that day, he had continued to fight his hardest.

If not for that encounter, Ayato wouldn't have existed as the man he was. His meeting with Ryouma was his pride. However, a voice just like his own whispered into his ears

. "Was that meeting really for the best? Didn't it just wreak more havoc on your life, causing you endless pain and solitude?"

Ayato's muddied mind forced images of the past up to the surface. Back in elementary school, despite the blood that had covered his skinned-raw hands, Ayato had kept swinging Ryuuzetsu training with His Aunt Kurono for his Junior League Matches .

At the time, he had no idea if what he was doing was right or if he could truly become stronger. He'd known so little at that point that he'd used manga as serious reference material. He had to rely on nene & His Aunt for his training after

The next thought that floated to the surface was the traveling he experienced. Having graduated to middle school, Ayato traveled around the World to Hone his Everything to become Stronger.

C'mon, now. If you don't fight back, you'll never prove your strength! I, The Hunter, have named you my opponent, so fight me, dammit!" Kirihara had been filling Ayato with holes like he was swiss cheese, while the teachers had just glared at him.

"Sorry, Kurogane. I can't really be your friend anymore." Following that, a friend had abandoned him.

"Here you are now, groveling yet again," the Ayato-like voice whispered.

"This is all thanks to Ryouma Kurogane's irresponsible encouragement. If you had just toed the line like your father told you to, none of this would have happened. You wouldn't have had to drag your Half dying body to a battle that only spells death.

"Living beyond your means will only lead to unhappiness. People have a set domain based on the resources available to them. Anyone who chooses to push their way out will only be met with pain and solitude.

"So, have you had enough yet? Have you realized how pointless it is? Then just relax. Live your life unbound by the foolish words of a dead man. Sleep here, and soon, it will all be over. You will never be made to suffer by the hand of Ryouma Kurogane's words again. Now…"

Rest. All he had to do was rest. Continuing the way he was would only lead to more pain. If he just went to sleep, all would be well. He could relax. Aayto knew that. He knew that, and yet…

"AaaAAHHHHHHH!" His festering throat unleashed a cracking roar as he lifted his weak body from the asphalt. Through the snowstorm, he moved step by step, climbing the hill anew.

"Stop this," the voice called to him

. "Why do you insist on hurting yourself?" Ayato himself didn't even know the answer to that question. His mind and memories, lost somewhere in the murk, were failing to even conjure up thought. Only one thing was visible at the very edge of his consciousness: a red flame. No, it was red hair that, like a flame, gently wavered and scattered sparks as it went. Whose hair was it?

Who was behind those flames?

In his condition, Ayato couldn't even remember that much. However, there was an incredible, unbearable stirring in his heart when that image arose. Though he knew not who it was, just the fluttering off that hair lit a fire in his frozen heart and spurred his exhausted body to act.

"Just rest. There's no way you can beat Raikiri, and nobody expects you to be able to. When you arrive, what will you do? What can you do the way you are?" Ayato didn't know. In fact, he wasn't even sure of where he was going or what he was doing, but trusting in the warmth in his heart, Ayato finally remembered something. Oh, right… I made a promise.

"…to…gether. …knight…hood."

He remembered not exactly what it was, but it was a promise he held dear, made with a person he held dear. That wasn't all, either. He also heard voices. They were incomprehensible, but the commotion made up of many familiar voices spurred him forward.

So I have to go… That was Ayato's answer. The voice that had once tried to beguile Ayato with comforting words sighed, thoroughly annoyed.

"Really? You're going to keep hurting yourself?" Its pitch -Blue Violet face warped into a distorted grin.

"Well, it's pointless."

Ah…

Just as he arrived at Hagun Academy's front gate, Ayato's knees stood up and he walk once again. No matter how strong his drive, his body could keep up. He could move forward. He could even stand. The man known as Ayato Kurogane hadn't reached his absolute limit.

"It's over for you." He fell inanimately, like a marionette with its strings cut, and fell to the ground, unable to rise again. Or so he thought. but as he fell, a warm, gentle force caught him. The force then spoke, stifling some sort of emotion.

"Welcome back, Big Brother."

That voice, as pretty and clear as a bell's chime, pulled the name of one person from the pile that was Ayato's memories.

It brought back the name and the memories of Ayato's beloved little sister.

"Shizuku…"

After saving Ikki from his fall, Shizuku hoarsely explained everything to him.

"After what Touka said to me last night, I couldn't stop worrying."

Should she have stopped him? Honestly, Shizuku wanted to stop her poor brother. He'd had enough. He'd tried and tried, more than he'd needed to. Shizuku didn't want Ayato to hurt any more than he already did. She didn't want him to suffer.

"Give up on knighthood and go back home."

Home may have been a cage for Ayato, but at least Shizuku would be with him; she wouldn't let him be alone anymore. She could love him as a mother, a sister, a friend, a partner, and more. She could give him anything he wanted, so she wanted nothing more than to let him rest.

"But when I was thinking about it, I realized I just couldn't bring myself to stop you. When you're here at school, you smile. You look so happy." Back home, that was unthinkable.

Though Ayato would occasionally smile for Shizuku, he had never truly smiled for himself. He had finally gained a smile for himself; how could Shizuku take that away from him?

"So I made a little bet. If you came here of your own volition, I would take you to your duel and shout my support for you at the top of my lungs."

Along with Shizuku's voice, there was a clamor of other voices. "

There you are, man! You can win this!"

"The battle hasn't started yet! Hurry!"

"You're not far from the arena, Kurogane! You can do it!"

"Ayato! Fight!"

"One final push! Show us your grit!" Those voices belonged to people Shizuku had run to and gathered for the sake of reaching her brother. Friends, classmates, his students, past opponents —so many people were waiting for him at the front gate. Ayato stared at the gaggle, dumbfounded, as Shizuku continued.

"Big Brother, I won't ask what they told you or how they cornered you, because I can imagine it well enough on my own. But please, never forget that you're not alone. You were at first, perhaps for far too long. Now, however, all these people are here to support you. Stella and Alice couldn't come because of their own battles, but they're praying for your victory. The Cold One is our hero. So…

"I want you to fight. Fight, and win!"

Shizuku's cries of support definitely reached Ayato's consciousness despite it being lost in the snowstorm. He took another look through his misty vision.

"I want you to fight. Fight, and win!" His silver-haired sister was there.

"The next edition of the Bulletin needs you on the cover! Don't lose now!" A cute girl with glasses was there too.

"Kurogane, this is the moment of truth!" A tall girl, one of his students, was there.

"I believe in you. As your teacher, I know you're not the kind of boy to lose like this."

"Yeah, Pres is strong, but you beat me. Show her what you've got!"

"Yep! Where there's a will, there's a way!"

"Ayato! We know you can win!" His other swordplay students, upperclassmen who always supported him, classmates, the teacher who had gotten him into the academy, past rivals he'd fought with the Seven Stars on the line—all of them were calling Ayato's name. The sight of it birthed conviction in his heart. Yeah. I finally got it. Ikki finally knew what drove him forward after his body had reached its limit.

It was their voices, and the emotions behind them. Those who loved him, those who admired him, and even those whose dreams had been crushed by him. Everyone present had entrusted their feelings to Ikki in some way.

Thus, they called out to him. Their voices and feelings pushed him forward.

When Utakata had told him, "The two of you simply carry different weights", Ayato had thought he was carrying nothing. But that was wrong. Ayato had surpassed his own limits and realized the weight he carried; the weight of the dreams entrusted to him by others as If a Fourth Seal finally unlocked his powers.

I guess I became that kind of person at some point.

Ikki felt a fire growing within himself when that conviction arose. The warmth of it spread through him via the movement of his blood, returning his full strength. His collapsed pile of thoughts and memories returned to form, and the haze in his mind cleared. It was time for him to fight.

How could he just give up when so many people were entrusting their feelings to him?

And most of all, though she was absent, he still had his promise with Stella, the girl with that flame hair.

"So let's go, together, to the peak of knighthood." He could clearly recall their vow. If he was going to make it happen, he couldn't lose to Raikiri.

"Thank you. Shizuku, Kusakabe, Ayatsuji, Tomaru, Saijou, Ms. Oreki, and everyone." Before he realized it, the snowstorm was gone. Ayato thanked them and left Shizuku behind, moving under his own powers again. He stood tall as he advanced toward the duel, with the strength he gained from his friends. Fear no longer had any place in his heart.

"There's no way you can beat Raikiri, and nobody expects you to be able to." Those words were spoken by the weakling inside Ayato. Finally, he had a clear rebuttal: I can beat her. He and his opponent were equal knights, bearing equal weight.

If he was honest, she was a very powerful opponent; maybe too powerful for him in his current state. The more he thought about it, the more disadvantages he saw weighing him down. Even so, he would do everything he could. It was his duty to do so, for the sake of everyone who gave him the strength to keep on going.

"Then off I—" Suddenly, a voice echoed high into the summer sky.

"Ayato!" An incredibly powerful, beautiful voice, lovelier than any melody.

"Stella…!"

"Thank God! You really… made it…" The fiery-haired girl who yelled and dashed over to Ayato began to pant heavily, murmuring something. Shizuku, behind Ayato, gasped in shock at her sudden appearance.

"H-Hey, Stella?! Weren't you supposed to be in a battle?!"

Indeed, that was the source of her surprise. Stella was a candidate for the Seven Stars Battle Festival, as she had maintained an unblemished win streak throughout her selection battles.

Like Alice, who was also absent, she should have been in the middle of her battle.

Why was she at the front gate? Stella didn't answer the question with words, instead using her actions. She presented an object with such excitement that she might as well have thrown it into Ayato's face.

"Ayato, I kept our promise. I'm a Seven Stars rep now!"

The item she held was a medal that proved she had been selected by Hagun Academy to be a representative at the Seven Stars. Stella had already completed her final battle by defeating another undefeated student in record time, a mere three seconds. She had done that just to be there for Ayato during his final battle.

She had wondered what she should do—what she could do—to help Ayato in his solitary war. The answer she had come up with was to keep her end of their promise and to come find him. It was a surefire way to give him courage.

"So go out there and win, Ayato! Then we'll go, together, to the peak of knighthood!" Ayato felt tears welling up in his eyes. He really did have an amazing girlfriend. It wasn't just that she had come so far to support his Half exhausted self.

In that moment, Stella had given him so much courage, so much strength. Her love is the best thing I could have ever hoped for.

Ikki had to keep being worthy of her love; a proud man who was just as strong as she was.

His weak-spirited thought of "I'll do what I can" was shattered by the sound of her voice. Ikki had to leave his friends with better parting words.

"Off I go" wasn't good enough, so instead, he declared: "I'm off to win!"

"Mm-hmm. Okay. All right. Thanks for calling." Utakata thanked the caller and pulled his student handbook away from his ear. He then sat down in a chair in the waiting room before telling Touka, whose eyes were closed while she focused herself, "Renren called. Ayato's here"

"Mm," Touka replied shortly, groaning. Her bangs hung over her face, hiding her expression. Utakata couldn't begin to understand what was going on in her heart. Ikki had arrived. Faced with a truth that she had initially wanted to avoid, Touka—

"…Heheh."

Utakata felt his body hair stand on end as Touka's lips warped with delight. Lightning crackled in the air around her as a result of her exhilaration, causing Utakata to swallow speechlessly. That really flipped her switch. The last time he had seen Touka like that was when she'd fought Moroboshi at the Festival the year before.

It was out of sheer kindness that Touka worried about Ayato's health and wished he would surrender, but in their world— a world of fighting—kindness alone wouldn't bring anyone to the top four in the nation.

The ferocity and brutality necessary to submerge one's foe in a pool of their own blood ruled the other side of Touka's personality.

At least she doesn't show this side too often. Ayato had forced Touka to get serious. The sheer nobility of the boy known as Ayato Kurogane had made her accept him as a powerful foe. She wouldn't hold back in the slightest; she was going to give the half-dead Cold One all she had. He didn't have even a fraction of a chance at victory.

"Touka Toudou, your battle is about to begin. Please make your way to the arena."

"All right. Here I go, Uta." She slowly stood from her chair and disappeared through the door to the red gate. Utakata watched as she left, her form overflowing with vitality. He couldn't help but pity the dying boy who had to face her. I'm sorry for what's about to happen to you, Cold One. Consider this matchup just bad luck.

"All right, everyone. We apologize for the long wait, but now, it's time to begin the final selection battle for the Seven Stars Battle Festival! From the red gate, Raikiri appears! Nineteen wins, zero defeats. She's the student council president and it shows —her overwhelming strength has helped her come out of every battle unscathed! Despite Hagun's overall poor performance as of late, her continuous victories have shone the light of courage on all of us! Hagun Academy's pride and joy, our radiant number-one star! Walking the path of glory, this star is off to battle to secure her final victory and her place at the Seven Stars! It's the third-year student Touka Toudou, everybody! With everyone's anticipation at her back, she has taken the stage!"

Touka showed herself in the arena. She stood with her back straight, watching the blue gate with dignity. "What amazing concentration." Stella, watching from afar, could feel just how energetic she was.

"Even at this distance, my skin is tingling!" Shizuku, however, having experienced Raikiri's power firsthand, felt differently.

The moment Touka appeared in the arena, she felt fear run through her; the terror was so great that she wanted to look away. But she did not.

Instead, she held her trembling shoulders and continued looking down at the arena, suppressing the urge to flee.

"Shizuku, are you okay?"

"I'm not, honestly. But my brother is doing his absolute best, so I can't leave him now. I'll watch this battle until it's over, no matter how it ends."

"And from the blue gate, we have another undefeated nineteen-streaker— although the road he took to get here was entirely different from Raikiri! Never given the time of day, never accepted by anyone, a lone wolf left for dead in the abyss. But he's clawed his way back up! The Crimson Princess, The Hunter, and even Runner's High! He mowed down Hagun's most famous knights like nobody's business! There's not a single person in this school who doesn't know his name! Hagun's favorite Rank A: first-year Ayato Kurogane, the Cryo Gale Sword Emperor! This wolf bares his fangs toward the sky, ready to sink his teeth into a star!"

With his long hair and the hems of his uniform swaying, Ayato shortened the distance between him and Touka step by step. The audience all gulped at his appearance.

「…I-Incredible.」

「He hasn't changed even though he is half dead … what pressure…!」

"Oho, so that's Touka's opponent? He's strong, that's for sure." "

You can tell, Master Nangou?"

"Of course I can, just look at how tense he is. This little man is ready to die here, if necessary. He's walking into battle with that much determination; even the audience is taken aback by his resolve. I didn't know Kurogane was that sort of man, but I have a feeling this battle will be a treat to watch. Nene, you have a powerful boy to call your Student."

"For real. Then again, while he's not showing it on his face, the fatigue is definitely wearing on him. You think he has any chance of beating Touka like that, Kuu?"

"Mhmhm. Whether he can or not, he has to face her. This is his duel, after all." Ignoring Akaza's interruption, Kurono looked down as she answered.

"Well, the outlook is bleak. I doubt he'll be able to fully swing his sword more than once or twice. Little Nephew has to be careful here; he ought to know Raikiri's killing tactic well by now."

"Hm? Does she have one?" Kurono thought of ignoring his question as well, but decided she was tired of listening to such a greasy fatass speak. Thus, she turned to Akaza and explained.

"Basically, Raikiri is a quickdraw attack. If her sword isn't sheathed, she can't use it. Through repeated, careful in-and-out attacks, he can apply pressure that will neutralize Toudou's Raikiri and other Noble Arts. The moment she unsheathes that sword, she'll become unable to use Raikiri. If Little Nephew has a chance, that's where it lies. But, to make that chance a reality, he'll have to fight a patient, drawn-out battle despite his pain."

It was a disadvantageous battle, but rushing to end it would hurt his chances even further. He was up against the close-range queen, Raikiri, after all. If he charged right in, he would eat her all-powerful trump card. Ittou Shura, which multiplied his strength by dozens of times & Kori Kusanagi is Much More Powerful than Raikiri right, still wasn't enough to break through Raikiri, so a drawn-out battle would be his best bet

Saikyou was of the same mind, but a single knight there had a different opinion.

"Oho, I see. You suggest a drawn-out battle, then, Kurono?"

It was Nangou. Behind his wrinkled eyelids, his eyes shone with the shrewdness of a hawk's.

"I bet this battle will be settled in a single slash."

Meanwhile, the crowd was beginning to go wild watching the two fighters in the arena. In the midst of the tempest, Touka offered a few words to Ayato.

"I have to apologize to you, Kurogane."

"Why's that?"

"I kept on hoping you wouldn't come here. I even begged your sister to make you forfeit the match. But while I was doing those hypocritical things… I was still desperately looking forward to this fight!"

"Ah!"

"Kurogane, I know you're already deeply hurt all over, and your fatigue is plain to see. But I'm still so helplessly excited, because ever since the moment I met you, I've always, always wanted to fight you!" She spread her feet as her lips drew into a smile. Lightning ran through the air, converging at Touka's palm until it became Narukami. Her expression showed that she could hardly wait for the battle to begin—and the same went for Ayato.

"I agree wholeheartedly," he declared, materializing his own katana in his right hand. It was true that he had always thought the same thing. Who was stronger, him or Raikiri? Could he defeat such a foe? At times, he would get so worried about it that his mind would be taken over by doubt, like fog seeping in, but there she was, directly in front of him.

"As long as I stand here as a knight, I won't swing my sword in a way that would bring shame to me, you, or the people pushing you forward. So here I swear…" Ayato said, raising the sword in his right hand and pointing the tip at Touka.

"I'll use my greatest Strength to shatter your indomitable strength!"

He swore that he would win. That was why he had come, after all.

"After a short exchange, these two greats now face each other, Devices in hand! A girl who has seen the summit, and a boy who crawled up from the depths. Who is truly stronger? With their place at the Seven Stars Battle Festival on the line, these knights begin their final battle! Now, everyone, say it with me! Let's go ahead!"

When the buzzer sounded, everyone present at the scene saw something unbelievable. Before it had even fallen silent, blue light radiated from Ayato and he charged at Touka.

"Wh-Whoa! Kurogane opens with his trump card, Ittou Shura! He's attacking at the very start!"

The crowd was restless—Ayato had never used his Ittou Shura at the start of a match until this point. Why would he? The technique had a strict time limit of one minute; if his target fled in that time, he'd be done for.

Instead, he would trade blows with his opponent, reading their plans from top to bottom and learning their methods.

He would never use it before doing so.

However, Ayato had discarded that pattern, because he didn't have the stamina to read Touka's plans from even the smallest of engagements. Had the fatigue forced him to rush the battle that much?

That was a reckless decision, Nephew! Kurono gritted her teeth at the sight. He should have been prepared to take some risks and draw out the fight.

Forcing the end of the match while he still had stamina would have worked in a more favorable situation, but in his current position, it was beyond foolish. Doesn't he know that he's up against the Raikiri?! She was among the top four student knights in the country.

A suicide attack wouldn't work on her. He would either fall to her Raikiri, or she would escape him with Shippuu Jinrai. Either way, this decision left Ayato with no chance at victory. Kurono and Saikyou looked down on the fight with grim expressions. Shizuku and Alice, other powerful students, did the same.

The recklessness he was displaying caused their faces to warp with despair. From among them, however, Stella Vermillion, the Crimson Princess, grinned slightly.

Jeez, Ayato. Even when your livelihood as a knight is on the line, you're still so crazy.

She knew why he had chosen the path he did. Raikiri was a quickdraw attack, so all one had to do to stifle it was to attack while Touka's sword was unsheathed. Even I know as much, so of course you've noticed. Still, Ayato hadn't chosen that option. Why? Was it because he judged that he had too little stamina to follow through with that plan? No, there was more to it than that.

Stella knew this wasn't a clever decision, and she was right to think so.

I've known this from the very start! Ever since he met Touka, Ayato had known that he would defeat her by defeating Raikiri. The super-electromagnetic quickdraw Raikiri was so powerful that it became her title as a knight, after all. How could he claim victory without challenging and defeating that attack? Frankly, his body was at its limit.

He had enough magic left within him to use Ittou Shura & Kori Kusanagi- Shin'chi without difficulty, but his stamina wouldn't be able to keep up with it.

In fact, he probably only had one swing worth of energy left within him. However, that was all he needed.

No feints, no wasted would move in a straight line until he was at point-blank range, where he would put all of his strength into a single stroke, and in doing so, he would defeat the invincible Raikiri.

That was the utmost form of sincerity he could show Touka, who had risen to the field of a battle swirling with conspiracy.

This is my own challenge!

However unfavorable the odds, Ayato would not fight a battle he would regret, nor would he fight in a way that disappointed his opponent. With that determination in his heart, he ran, shining with the light of life.

"I'll use my greatest strength to shatter your indomitable strength!"

As she watched him, Touka Toudou came to understand that the words he'd said before the match were his genuine thoughts. She didn't even need Reverse Sight to read his impulses; the sheer determination approaching her told the whole story.

Ayato Kurogane had decided that the first slash in their battle would also be the last, so he charged in, aiming for her Raikiri counterattack.

Her victory was assured. She simply had to fake using Raikiri before jumping far back, forcing him to fumble his full-body attack.

Then, once he was completely exhausted, she could harass him from outside of his range.

He would be helpless, leading to her victory.

As if!

Close-range combat was the domain of Raikiri, in which it had never been bested.

It was where Touka was at her most powerful, so she didn't even entertain the idea.

What would a queen be if she shamelessly fled from her territory just because an enemy attacked?

Where would she fight if not where she was the strongest?

Most of all, why would she flee from a knight who, despite the pain and fatigue he faced, challenged her invincible technique with all his strength?

Who could take pride in a victory like that? I'm not here to protect my number-one spot at Hagun!

I'm here to defeat this proud knight and become the Seven Stars King! I'll accept his challenge with the indomitable strength of my Raikiri!

Touka widened her stance and sent lightning coursing through Narukami's scabbard in preparation to use her trump card: a single strike that had cut down every single person to ever fall victim to it. Ready to draw her sword, she unleashed her counterattack upon the approaching Ayato.

Like her foe, she would bet everything on a single slash in a fair fight that would bring mutual pride to both knights.

That was the noble path of knighthood—the path on which the two knights faced each other.

Ayato would unleash his Ultimate Secret Sword: Hellmoon.

An invisible swing that made his swordplay impossible to trace, it was the Strongest of all his seven sword arts.

Its speed was like that of lightning as it struck the earth, which made it all the more fitting that the counterattack directed at him was Raikiri, an electricity-based quickdraw that could tear through even lightning.

Both swords were guided by superhuman speed, so the result of the matchup would be decided by the depth of feelings behind them: the prayers of those who supported each fighter from the bottom of their hearts, and the knights' pure desire to defeat the foe before them.

They put all of that and more into the embodiments of their souls, and with every last ounce of their strength, both knights swung their swords.

"Haaahhhhh!"

"Yaaaaahhhhh!"

Their blades were like lightning bolts. Though their point-blank strikes both tore through the air at incredible speed, Raikiri was slightly faster. No! This isn't enough! The approaching plasma blade burned so brightly that its color was imperceptible. I can't make it like this!

Faced with her speed and power, Ayato foresaw his own defeat. The unsheathed Raikiri was unfettered and merciless, controlled by a woman who was prepared to kill if necessary. It was a gorgeous exhibition of swordplay; Touka Toudou was truly a powerful knight.

So what?!

Ayato knew that she was strong. He also knew that he was inferior to most, but he had never turned away from that fact. He kept fighting, not once trying to escape that unbearable truth. That was why he knew what he had to do in such a situation.

Ayato Started to generate An Cold WindStorm in His Ryuuzetsu & honed his soul. Sight, taste, hearing, touch, smell—not one of his senses was useful to him as he swung. In that single instant, Ayato didn't even need to breathe. He abandoned everything irrelevant and concentrated all his remaining power into a Powerful Cryo wind Slash.

His muscles, his marrow, his bones, his cells. From it all, he wrung every last drop of vitality, stamina, magic, and potential in his body, all to break beyond his limits with the Kori Kusanagi.

When their steel blades collided, a gale of Cryo wind blew in all directions around the world . The impact created a flash that robbed the world of color momentarily, and the rumble that accompanied it was akin to a thunderclap that could be heard from hundreds of miles away, with not a sound to be heard once it subsided.

Clang!

In the silence, the sound of metal breaking echoed through the venue, followed by that of someone falling.

The crowd had been forced to close their eyes from the sheer brilliance of the lightning strike-like clash, but slowly, timidly, they opened their eyes and looked into the arena.

The shattered weapon was Narukami, and the one who had fallen along the royal path of knighthood was the Raikiri, Touka Toudou.

"H-He broke iiiiit! I-I can't believe it! All it took was one crossing of blades, one trading of blows, and Toudou's Narukami—along with her very own Raikiri —had been shattered! Toudou has fallen, and she isn't getting up! A referee is running over now! Can she continue the fight, or…?!"

The crowd watched with bated breath as the referee approached Touka and made his decision. He squatted down for a moment, looked her over, then finally stood and crossed his arms to form an X.

"The referee has ruled her unable to battle! The duel is over! What a finish! What an end! It only took a fraction of a second, but the strongest knight in Hagun Academy has been bested! The last one standing, the victor of this match, is the Cold One, Ayato Kuroganeee!"

The moment the winner's name was announced, the crowd erupted into cheers, shaking the venue. The audience turned into a crucible of excitement, with many members expressing their shock.

"N-No way…"

"H-He really won! He beat the Raikiri!"

"Unbelievable! The president lost at close range?!"

"Hey, I've never seen someone break a Device before. Is she alive?"

"Yaaaaay! Ayato, you're the best!" Watching Ayato as he dragged himself out of the arena, Stella immediately ran over toward the blue gate to meet him.

"Aren't you going, Shizuku?" Kagami asked the silver-haired girl, whom she had watched the battle with, but Shizuku just shook her head slightly.

"Are you waiting so he can be alone with Stella? On a day like this, I don't think they'd mind you being there."

"No…"

"Shizuku?"

The tiny girl merely sat down in place. Kagami then realized that Shizuku wanted to go, but couldn't get her body to move. Her beloved older brother had dragged his near-dead body into battle against a woman who had put all her strength into a single strike against him, unhesitating despite his poor state. Though Ayato had won, it was only by a hair. If he had made even the tiniest slip-up, he could have lost his head. That tension—and the resulting relief from being released from it—had drained Shizuku of all her energy.

"I'm so glad you're okay. So glad…!" Shizuku was so overcome with emotion that she could only sit and cry in relief. The poor girl had been so tense since the night before.

"Did you see that, Nene?"

"Yeah, duh. That Ayato boy is one hell of a guy."

Nangou and Saikyou—two of the esteemed Mage-Knights watching from the very top of the stands—had seen something. When the two steel lightning bolts that were Hellmoon and Raikiri collided, Ayato had accelerated even further.

"Ittou Shura, a technique that uses all of Ayato's power in one minute, couldn't defeat Raikiri. He knew that, so the man did it all in one swing instead of one minute!

With even more staggering concentration than in his one-minute transformation, he multiplied his strength not by dozens, but by hundreds, putting it all into the power and speed of his swing with the Cryo Wind!"

If the normal use of Ittou Shura could be seen as using all of one's strength to run a hundred yards, then what Ayato had just done was to condense all of those hundred yards into a single step.

That was no human feat; it was something possible only for a man who had descended into the very depths of hell, the domain of the Asura. A limit that surpassed limits, eclipsing even humanity to become a demon. Its name: Ittou Rasetsu.

But that was a mere trick. It wasn't what decided the match."

"Master Nangou?"

"What's that supposed to mean, you old shit?"

"Touka used her Raikiri with the resolve to kill that Kurogane boy. It was the most beautiful, unhesitant swordplay I've ever seen, and there's no doubt it was faster than the boy's. But the moment he reached his limit, he evolved. It all happened in the nick of time, for the sole purpose of defeating Touka.

"I can only imagine that's what he's always done. With nothing to his name, nothing given to him by anyone except his parents & sister, he always fights tooth and nail, believing in his own generation's potential. He endlessly hones himself to become faster than he was one minute ago, stronger than he was one second ago.

"In the end, it was that minor difference. Touka used the limits of her strength in her attack, that much is certain, but during their battle, that boy forced his own limits to grow. His persistent effort to increase his own potential was what earned him this victory. Very fitting for a man like him."

Nangou squinted his eyes, already narrow from his sagging skin, and watched Ayato exit the ring as though he were an old friend.

"I-Impossible! Do you even hear yourself?! He was half-dead! For that to lead to this, there must have been some kind of mistake! That's it, it's all a mistake! Something went wrong! You think I'll accept this outcome?!" Akaza, unable to process what had happened right before his eyes, screamed as he ran out of the stands.

"Kuu-chan, you're not gonna follow him?" Saikyou asked, shooting a glance at his round form as he waddled away. "He's definitely up to no good."

"Honestly, I wanted to make him pay for everything he's put us through, but it feels stupid now," Kurono replied, having also assumed he was scheming.

"It doesn't matter whether or not we leave him; he can't do anything anymore. No matter what he tries, it's too late. The situation's out of his hands.

A nationally renowned knight, family ties, injustice, an absurd fight—Ayato Kurogane faced all that and more head-on, and with a single cryo wind slash, he cut the Gordian Knot."

Nobody would entertain any objections to the result. News cameras had caught the entire spectacle, including the moment the great Raikiri fell to the Cold One. "It doesn't matter how much Kurogane's family wants to abuse him anymore," she continued.

"The world's not going to let him go that easily. Thanks to this battle, the name 'Cold One'—or perhaps 'Cryo Gale Sword Emperor'—is echoing around the world as we speak."

Their cheers sounded so distant, Ayato thought, as if listening to rain outside his window. His consciousness had separated entirely from his physical form; if he relaxed his grip on himself even a little bit, he would probably collapse. Maybe it was okay for him to collapse. He had already won the battle, after all.

Despite that, however, he continued to push his legs forward. There was somewhere he needed to go, someone he needed to see. I have to tell her something… right now. So he walked through the blue gate, leaving the cheering crowd behind.

"Ayato!" There, the person he wanted to meet came to him from beyond it. Lucky me. Ayato wasn't sure if he could make it to the audience's stands.

Stella opened her arms to receive Ayato as he fell into her chest. She embraced him, her large chest pressing into him as she spoke.

"Great job out there, Ayato. Hic…!" She was sobbing. Ayato looked up and saw that her face was wet with tears.

"Did I make you worry that much?"

"YES! Yes, you did! Hic! You got abducted! I didn't see you for weeks! And when you come back, you're half-dead! Worst of all, you start going on about fighting Raikiri head-on despite all that! How stupid can you be, Ayato?! I can't believe you, you big, stupid dummy!"

Haha… he thought. Guess she didn't like my joke.

"But y'know, I'm a dummy, too."

"Huh?"

"Because I fell in love with you even though you keep doing things like that." She held him even tighter. There's that warmth… The heat of Stella's body had given Ayato's frozen self so much strength.

Back when he fell into that snowstorm, he had thought it was all over. He hadn't had an ounce of energy left within him. It was her warmth that gave him the power to go on. Though Ayato couldn't even remember her name at that point, she had brought his corpse back to life. Thank you.

If Stella hadn't been there, he wouldn't have been able to make it as far as he did. He would have been left buried in the snow, thrown away definitively by his own stepfather, unable to cope with the feeling of loss.

Because she was there, he had been able to dig himself out of it. Because she was there, he had been able to keep fighting.

That was the reason he chose to say it. He had decided that when his battle was over, if he had won, he would tell her.

"Stella." Ayato inhaled deeply and held Stella with all the strength left in him. He had decided that when his battle was over, once he had won, he would tell her.

"I want us to be a family." All the love in his heart was poured into those few short words. Decisive words that he could never have said before. Words that would take their relationship beyond just boyfriend and girlfriend.

He felt Stella start to quiver, but it only lasted an instant. She quickly squeezed him even tighter and replied with a voice that sounded as though she was ready to cry, her expression a mix of bashfulness and unimaginable joy.

"Me too. Marry me, Ayato."

Hearing those words, relief washed over Ayato's heart and he finally released his grasp on consciousness.

"Ayato…? Ayato, no! Wake up!"

His body hung limply in Stella's arms. He was breathing, but very weakly. She knew at a glance that he was in critical condition. Even worse, she found that beneath his clothes, he was covered in blood.

The several-hundred-times multiplication of his strength was something the human body couldn't handle.

I have to get him to the infirmary!

"Stooop!" Before Stella could move Ayato to safety, a barrel-shaped man blocked her path.

It was Mamoru Akaza, his face dripping with sweat and no sign of sanity remaining in his bloodshot eyes.

He had failed, and he would be made to take responsibility for his failure.

Promotion was out of the question; it was clear that he would instead lose his position.

That realization caused panic to overtake the man, robbing him of the last of his logic.

His one goal had become to cover up the result of his mission, so he brandished his Device, a hand axe, and approached the unconscious Ayato.

"Mhmhm! Wait just a moment there, Princess! Put that man down! He and I have a duel that we must attend to! You see, his planned opponent was not actually Touka Toudou—it was me! This is a man-to-man deal! Now, bring him over to me… Oh?" Suddenly, Akaza lost sight of Stella, who had been standing directly in front of him.

She had, unbeknownst to him, moved behind him. No. It wasn't that simple; she had actually slipped into the voids in his consciousness. It was the ancient style of walking, Void Step. For someone at Stella's & Ayato's levels, once she knew the basic principles behind it, it wasn't overly difficult to replicate it.

She had escaped Akaza's perception and carried Ayato past him, but not without knocking the barrel-man away with a backhanded blow.

"Hngaaaaahhh?!"

Akaza was thrown like he had been hit by a truck, flying through the blue gate, then bouncing over and over, like a rubber ball, into the middle of the arena.

"Whoa! There's an old man in the ring!"

"The hell's he doing? I feel like I've seen him before."

"Look at his spine! It's not supposed to bend like that, is it?"

"Eww, look at him spasming! Gross!"

"Is he alive?"

Stella heard some commotion coming from the stands, but she didn't pay it any mind. She was already on her way to the infirmary to have Ayato treated by a doctor.

Even the face of the man she had just smacked into oblivion had already disappeared from her mind.

An hour after the match, Touka finally recovered from the shock to her consciousness caused by the breaking of her Device, Narukami.

"Finally awake, Touka?"

"Do you feel alright? Hurt anywhere?" She was lying in a bed, watched over by Utakata and Kanata. The sight told Touka everything she needed to know.

"Oh. Guess I lost, huh?"

There was a gap in her memories beginning at the moment she swung her sword; the moment she fell did not exist within her mind. However, when she saw her friends' consoling looks, it wasn't hard for her to guess what happened.

"And here I thought my Raikiri was unbeatable."

"Master Nangou thought so too."

"Master? Was he there?"

"Yep. Right, Kanata?"

"Yes. Since the battle was open to the public, he came to watch you fight."

"He was really proud of you! He even said that was the most beautiful Raikiri he had ever seen." …Really?

"If Master thinks so, then I guess I wasn't mistaken in thinking so myself." She had used every last ounce of her power, yet Ayato Kurogane still surpassed her. Something still bothered her about it.

Kurogane moved even faster at that moment. In the space of a second, he had forced his limits to grow for the sole purpose of defeating Touka.

She thought she had always kept aiming higher, but she realized that it was nothing compared to what Ayato towas doing.

The Cold One wasn't just fighting against desperate odds in their duel, he was doing so every day. And every time he did, he continued to evolve. Perhaps her defeat had been a foregone conclusion. What an incredible person. Things won't be the same next time, though.

The satisfying feeling left behind by Touka's perfect Raikiri still lingered in her hands. That feeling taught her that she could still grow ever more. Someday, she will close the gap between them.

Someday, she will surpass him. She would chase after him at full speed until the day they fought again, when it was her turn to challenge him. "So, Touka…"

"Hm?" Utakata started to speak suddenly. He had an uncomfortable look on his face, but when pressed, he asked his question.

"Should I call everyone at the Wakaba House?" Oh. Right. Touka remembered that they had gone so far as having made a banner for her. As difficult as it may have been, she had to let them know she'd lost.

Utakata was willing to tell them in her place if the truth was too painful for her to tell, but regardless of the outcome, she had promised to go see them all after the selection battles were over.

"Thanks for worrying about me, but I'm okay. I should tell them myself."

"You don't have to act tough." Touka shook her head. She wasn't acting tough. In her full-power battle with Ayato, she had given all she had.

She wasn't afraid to tell anyone about the Raikiri she had unleashed with so much resolve that she was prepared even to kill Ayato for her victory. She had nothing to be ashamed of.

"I'll go home with pride in my heart." She would tell them about how she had fought a truly incredible knight.

I Remember my Deal with Ayato about having sex with Kanata Utakata Said.

"Uta-kun. Once we get back to school, I hope you'll be prepared for your punishment—"

"You plunged into that thicket by yourself because of the deal you made with Ayato about having sex with me, so I'm not helping you but I going to test out how amazing he is in bed."

….

After the duel, Ayato slept for a full week. With the fatigue from the inquiry, the poisoning from

Akaza's drug, and the effect of Ittou Cryo Rasetsu on top of it all, it wasn't such a far-fetched outcome. While the man himself slept soundly, the series of events that started the scandal was settled.

That was a result of Stella's father, Emperor Vermillion, learning of the results of Ayato's duel and everything leading up to it. He declared his immense displeasure with the Ethics Committee and their tool, the mass media.

Once the emperor had directly stated his displeasure with them, the news could do nothing but quiet down. Finally, he announced that he would put off his decision regarding Ayato and Stella's relationship, demanding that Ayato come to the Vermillion Empire to meet him after the Seven Stars Battle Festival.

Between those declarations and Akaza's subsequent fall from power, there was nobody left to doubt Ayato's qualifications as a knight. With everything having reached its conclusion, the entire student body gathered in the usually rarely-used gymnasium for the formal swearing-in ceremony of the six students who would represent Hagun Academy after the long, long line of selection battles.

"We will now begin the ceremony. When your name is called, please come up to the stage," Kurono said, her voice projecting through the gymnasium. Then, she began reading the names of each student.

"Year 1, Rank A: Stella Vermillion. Year 3, Rank D: Botan Hagure. Year 3, Rank B: Kanata Toutokubara. Year 3, Rank C: Kikyou Hagure. Year 1, Rank D: Nagi Alisuin… is unable to be here, it seems. Year 1, Rank A: Ayato Kurogane."

"Ma'am."

Ikki replied quickly and stood when his name was called, climbing the stairs next to him to go onstage. Then, like the four before him, he walked in front of Director Kurono Shinguuji, his Aunt, to receive a certificate and a medal.

"Congratulations Nephew."

"Thank you very much." He bowed, and the five representatives lined up together in front of the entire school body as the school's representatives. Once Kurono saw that Ayato was lined up with them, she continued.

"The five you see before you all—six, including Nagi Alisuin—are now officially recognized as Hagun Academy's representatives for the Seven Stars Battle Festival!"

The audience welcomed the five people onstage with roaring applause.

Everyone was looking right at Ayato and the other representatives. In battle, he didn't care about other people looking at him.

He wasn't in battle, however, and was anything but used to being the center of attention to receive positive recognition, so he felt especially awkward.

He was the type of person who didn't especially care about other people's opinions of him or his social status, so he was unsure of how to handle himself during such ceremonies. He really just wanted to get off the stage.

"Next, I will announce the team captain. When I call your name, step forward. The leader will be Year 1, Rank A Ayato Kurogane." As if acting specifically against Ayato's desires, Kurono once again called his name.

"…Huh?" Ayato was shocked beyond belief that he was named captain, unintentionally turning toward Kurono. He had expected that the more experienced student council member, Kanata, or the talk of the town, Stella, would be chosen as captain.

"I'm the leader? Wh-Why?"

"Obviously, yes," Kurono said, giving him an annoyed look.

"The Hunter, Runner's High, even Raikiri; you defeated all of the school's Seven Stars frontrunners one after another. Who else here would be more fitting to be the captain of Hagun's representatives? Now step forward, would you?"

"O-Oh, uh, yes, ma'am." Ayato still wasn't convinced. As he had lived his life outside of the spotlight, the role of leader was one he had never played before. He was left unable to do anything but panic, until Kurono's harsh tone forced him to reflexively step forward. She then continued the ceremony.

"Now, the team captain will be given the school's flag." With that, a single female student carried the flag to Ikki from offstage. It was the girl he had beaten in his final battle.

"Student council president, Touka Toudou."

"I haven't seen you since the match. I'm glad you're doing better." Touka smiled slightly and lifted the school's flag.

"This is the flag I was given as last year's team captain. I was planning to carry it again this year, but then I lost to you, Kurogane. I asked the faculty to let me give this to you personally." When he heard that, Ayato was at a loss for words.

Touka must have already sorted out her feelings about the match, because she looked completely fine. As for Ayato, who had just woken up, he still felt like their battle was just the day before.

He had no idea what he should say to the person he had knocked out of the running. However, despite his lack of a suitable response, he at least knew that he wanted to thank her.

Despite the filth and evil that had permeated their fight, she still fought him unreservedly, like a proud knight. It was because she was there that he had been able to draw so much strength from within.

"Toudou, I… I could only fight at full power because you were my opponent, because I wanted to win against you specifically. If I hadn't been up against you, then I'm sure—``

''Kurogane." She interrupted him, and gave him a gentle look.

"Ayato Kurogane, to be victorious is to carry a burden. You're carrying the aspirations of the people who failed against you. This flag is a symbol of the hopes and dreams of so many students who wanted to represent the school, but couldn't. I'm not telling you to fight for us, but please, take this flag so that we can be there the moment you take the Seven Stars."

Touka held the flag out to Ayato. Hearing her words and seeing that flag, he finally understood that he didn't need words; there was only one way to repay the girl in front of him and all the other knights who fought only to have their dreams crushed. He would bear the burden of their hopes through his victory. What did Ayato have to do, then, as the victor? He wasn't one to not recognize what was required of him, so he firmly grasped the black flagpole that was offered to him.

"…I promise that I will." The moment he said that, the gymnasium erupted into applause.

"You can do it, Captain!"

"We'll definitely come cheer you on!"

"You beat the president! That makes you our representative!"

"We know you can take the top, Ayatooo!"

"Don't you dare lose, Frozen Beast King!"

Voices of support, cheers of blessing, cries of encouragement. So many different voices were mixed into the applause, slamming into Ayato. The shock of it sent a shiver down his spine. He tightened his lips, stiffening his face. It was the only thing he could do to stop himself from crying.

With his face still stiffened, Ayato raised the flag in response to their cheers and returned to his own spot in line. He then whispered to Stella, standing next to him.

"…Stella."

"Yeah?"

"To be honest… I've never really cared about anyone else's opinions. Nobody's ever thought anything positive of me, so I figured it was just impossible. I always thought I just needed to get to the point where I could accept myself. But being accepted by others like this is… surprisingly nice." Ayato could no longer tell if he was smiling or crying. But when Stella looked at him, she smiled happily, so he knew that he must have been making some sort of cheerful face. Thus, Hagun Academy, situated in the southern area of Japan's Kanto region, had its Seven Stars Battle Festival representatives.

Following them, northern Kanto's Donrou Academy, Tohoku's Kyomon Academy, Hokkaido's Rokuzon Academy, Kyushu and Okinawa's Bunkyoku Academy, Chugoku and Shigoku's Rentei Academy, and finally, the strongest school in Japan and a leading powerhouse worldwide, having reached the finals at the Seven Stars for the past twenty years and with a monopoly on the top spot for each of the past five, Kinki and Chubby's Bukyoku Academy, all announced their own representatives one after another.

The actors were all taking the stage: Kyomon's Icy Sneer, Mikoto Tsuruya; Rokuzon's Grizzly Panther, Renji Kaga; Donrou's Sword Eater, Kuraudo Kurashiki; the current champion of the Festival, the Seven Stars King, Yudai Moroboshi.

Every one of those knights was famous throughout Japan, and Ayato Kurogane was headed to the Festival, where they awaited him. There, he would fight for the opportunity to stand at the pinnacle of the Seven Stars, and where he would fulfill the vow he made to his strongest rival of all, the Crimson Princess. His story had progressed to the national stage.

※ ※ ※

Meanwhile, while Hagun Academy's swearing-in ceremony was underway, something else was taking place beneath a desolate expressway.

"Heheheh. Looks like Hagun's order has been solidified as well. Quite surprising that neither Raikiri, Runner's High, nor Lorelei made it into the lineup."

"Hardly their fault. Two of them simply fell victim to bad luck."

"Well, luck is another skill. If the luck of the draw is enough to make you lose, that just shows what kind of knight you are. Doesn't that sound like something Ouma would say to you?"

"I don't especially care."

"Wow, cold. Well, whatever. I suppose your preparations are complete?"

"Yes, without issue. Lorelei's fall was unexpected, but it won't interfere with the plan. I can dispose of her at any time."

"Heheheh. You really are the master of masters when it comes to assassination. Your skill is on another level. But what else would I expect from the Black Assassin, who cleared the Killing House with a record-breaking high score? Or I suppose you're the Black Rose now, Comrade Alisuin?"

"…"

Alisuin's cold expression bore no resemblance to the kind one she wore around Ayato and his group. She hardly appeared to be a human with emotions, more closely resembling glasswork; one might have even mistaken her for a different person. That in itself gave her a certain dangerous beauty that one might even describe as lurid.