[Rakudai Kishi no Eiyuutan]

Ikki's highest offensive ability that even put a hole in that giant rock doll. The charge and its penetrating power was peerless. Even someone like Edelweiss would have no response but to flee―what naïve thinking.

"Wha…!"

The next instant, Saigeki's charge lost power, and was no longer advancing.

Why? ―The reason was Edelweiss, who Intetsu infused with Saigeki's force was rushing toward, had stopped Saigeki by blocking with her own swords. At the tip of his sword that was no wider than a needle, her blades had met perfectly, countering Ikki's highest offensive ability. ―It was indeed amazing.

"Ugh…!"

Just like that, at the deed which displayed the true difference between the two of them, a great agitation grew in Ikki's chest.

And Edelweiss didn't miss that agitation. She took the gap in Ikki's reaction that had become just slightly dull―

"Whoa!"

Edelweiss's attack tore Ikki's skin at last. What was torn was―his forehead. To make things worse, the blood that burst out from there flowed into Ikki's eyes.

'My view!'

Of course, Edelweiss didn't let that fatal vulnerability pass. What she unleashed was the instant cross-shaped attack that she had showed at the beginning. The pursuing sword, with its swift stroke, burned the air white...

"Haaaaa!"

But all of that was an interaction Ikki Kurogane had foreseen. He drove her off, and all of her cross-like attacks. For Ikki who had the vision of both eyes stolen away, not a bit of agitation was in him.

How? All of that was already things he didn't need to see!

'I can't see the swings, but I can see through the muscles moving her body!'

Edelweiss's breath. Swordsmanship. Tempo. Footwork―

It was the peerless ability of insight, stripping bare the essence of the opponent's habits through the information he gained from the opponent while fighting.

Perfect Vision―using the asset he had besides sword technique, the Worst One saw through Edelweiss's own technique. So he didn't need vision anymore. Because even without something like vision, he could predict two or three moves ahead of his enemy!

"You're doing quite well."

Even the world's strongest revealed a voice of admiration at Ikki's sensitivity that approached the mystical mind's eye.

However, her slashing attacks did not slow. From the front, she attacked with the absolute advantage afforded by her two-sword style. It was a continuous onslaught. She understood that her own sword-wielding muscles had been seen through, but the difference that existed between them would not be surmounted just by something like foresight.

In that case, there was no need for trickery. It was enough just to press forward with speed and power.

―It was entirely proper judgment. As it was, she immediately pressed the attack. Again, Ikki was confident about this. For that reason...

'The fight will be decided here...!'

It was only one thing, but there was a way to change the flow of this situation. While handling the silent shadowless attack with only foresight, he considered it. Edelweiss had not fallen back once during this fight. She had defended while advancing, but she had never moved to evade. Why? It was simple. She didn't need to. There was no need to dodge. The spare time to defend while attacking was more than enough. Ikki's sword was nothing more than a single blade, to be brushed aside by Edelweiss's own. If he considered the difference between them, that was certain. Therefore Edelweiss had not chosen to evade.

'Then in that case...'

On that point, there was a way for him to survive. Because it was certain, it was the one thing that was easy to read!

'This is the single point where I can disrupt her rhythm!'

And Ikki's last offense came out. Flicking one pure-white blade with just a bit of strength, he would delay the returning sword. An attack thrust into that gap could bring it all to an end.

The blade of Intetsu just barely scraped along the ground―no, while scraping the ground, it drove toward Edelweiss.

The swing was big, like a sharp gale. However, it would probably not reach Edelweiss. If Ikki's sword was like a gale, Edelweiss's sword was like a flash. Without a doubt, she would block.

However―that was nothing to worry about. Because this technique was purposely such that there was meaning for it to be blocked. In the instant that the opponent defended against Intetsu, from his feet to his fingers, all of his muscles worked together, flexing to cast forth a shock wave.

The human body was mostly flesh made of and filled with water. Therefore, it was fragile against vibrations. If a slight ripple was made on a human body that was vulnerable to vibrations, the interior of that body would be disrupted. For example, there was a type of penetrating blow in Chinese martial arts that used this principle.

In other words, Ikki's attack was a penetrating blow using an edge. It would bypass armor and strike the internal organs. If blocked with swords, it would strike both arms. Arriving at the human body through vibration of the sword blade, it was a poisonous stroke that brought disruption.

'The sixth secret sword―Dokuga no Tachi'

Taking heed of the difference in their strength, and making sure she wouldn't evade. One could say that Ikki had truly made sure of the difference between his movements and Edelweiss's correctly.

However, the secret sword would only be effective in the situation where the opponent blocked forcefully. And exactly as Ikki planned, Edelweiss did not have any doubts―and blocked the poisonous longsword with her pure white blade!

However much she was the world's strongest, Edelweiss was still human. In the structure of a human body, she was no different from Ikki. In that case, she had no way to escape from this poison!

Ikki aimed at Edelweiss's naked sword, drove into it the shock wave born of his all his muscles working together.

In that instant, blood surged out from all over Ikki's body.

"Eh?"

Muscles burst through his skin all over his body, and blood flew all around.

Why? The reason was something Ikki realized instantly. It was simple. Edelweiss had done exactly what Ikki was about to do―with a speed and destructive power an order of magnitude greater.

As a result, the shock wave Ikki was launching at Edelweiss had been completely extinguished, and the waves that remained had conversely destroyed Ikki's body instead.

Ikki had intended to see through Edelweiss's sword. But all of that was an illusion. All he saw was what Edelweiss wanted to show. Everything had been in the palm of her hand all along.

This reality made Ikki's body shake in cold fear.

'To this… degree…?'

Exhausting all his strength, betting on all his techniques, using the best tactics he could devise―he couldn't even touch her.

'The world's summit… is this high… this far away…!?'

Before such strength that his own scale could not measure, Ikki felt terror.

And in the next instant, the end came. Against Ikki who had lost all methods of attack, Edelweiss swung the sword in her right hand―the white blade flew invisibly, broke through the blade of Intetsu, and sliced into Ikki.

"Ah."

From that one blow, the wound Ikki received was not deep. However, because the Device crystallized from his own soul had been shattered, Ikki's consciousness and body crumbled down.

Edelweiss did not give the final blow. He understood that there was no need for it. Having ended the fight, she turned her gaze away from Ikki―

"UuuaaaAAAAAAA!!!"

But at the moment Ikki's body would've hit the ground, incredibly, Ikki mustered as much of his strength as he could, and refused that last act. Grabbing a piece of Intetsu that was flying through the air―

"Aaaaahhh!"

He slashed at Edelweiss again.

That broken edge was easily blocked by the pure-white blade.

"…You still wish to continue?"

Ikki's action had made Edelweiss's heart waver just a little. She asked the knight who was now breathing over her shoulder, yet still grasping the broken shard of his crystallized soul.

"It is plain to see that with the difference in our strength, you cannot even hope to win by chance. The sword formed from your soul is broken, your consciousness faint. You body can no longer fight either. Despite that, why do you hinder me? I have no desire to injure children unreasonably. Since the beginning, I had no intention of killing you or your sister. Compared to keeping me here, you are putting your little sister in danger. Lord Wallenstein is not one to show children mercy, I fear. …Do you not also know this?"

At that question, Ikki nodded while breathing heavily.

"Yes… I know…. You're a kind person."

"If so, why?"

"…Because Shizuku doesn't want that."

Ikki, keeping himself awake with pure will, stared back at Edelweiss through his blurred eyes and answered with the reason that he had not yet surrendered.

"If I let you go… maybe Shizuku will be saved. But Alice won't be!"

"―That boy is a criminal, a member of society's underworld. Such a fate is inevitable."

"Maybe so. But Shizuku doesn't want that. She came here because she doesn't want that! And I promised to follow what Shizuku wanted!"

Therefore―

"Even if I die, I won't surrender here!"

At that answer, Edelweiss's noble face turned in confusion.

"Even if you die? You don't hold your life so cheaply, do you? Having cross blades with you, I know how strong the ambition and longing is inside of you. You too have a dream. You too have someone important. Despite that, you don't mind losing your life here?"

At the perplexed question, Ikki returned a weak smile.

"This is… the first time."

"First?"

"Yes… the first. That Shizuku has depended on me."

Ikki spoke as he thought back on his relationship with Shizuku.

"I've always been worried about it. As an older brother, I've never done anything for her. Yet that girl was always idolizing and loving me as her older brother. And today, my little sister has something she wishes for, and is relying on me."

To this useless older brother, she had entrusted her hopes.

"That's all the reason I need to risk my life…!"

That was why he wouldn't surrender. Not here. He wouldn't surrender here. The one wish of his good little sister, who did impious things but always supported him. If he didn't put his life on the line here, what kind of brother was he!?

"With my weakness, I'll hold your strength here!"

As long as he was alive, he would not let her leave. Holding this strong will and resolve, Ikki stood in Edelweiss's way. And Edelweiss could see that resolve shining in his eyes.

What strong will. Are these the eyes of a boy who's only just had his coming of age? Her breath was taken away. Such strength, such ambition. And not only that, but the noble spirit torisk his life for the sake of others.

'It's been a long time, hasn't it? That I've met a person as beautiful as this.'

"Young man. May I have your name?"

"…Ikki Kurogane."

"Kurogane―I will apologize for my impoliteness up until now. Young warrior."

Declaring this, Edelweiss leaped backwards lightly.

Opening a wide distance between herself and Ikki...

"You are not a child who needs to be protected. You are a man capable of witnessing my full strength as a knight. So… with the strongest sword in the world, I will slay a knight such as you."

For the first time this night, the world's strongest swordsman was serious. At that moment, a sword spirit that couldn't be compared to anything up until now poured out from Edelweiss's body. And similarly, a storm of light. Dust roiled up, and the trees creaked, and every glass window broke into tiny pieces.

A single human. While a presence unimaginably huge for a human body's dimensions spread forth, Twin-Wings Edelweiss spread the blades in both hands like wings...

"Prepare yourself."

...and soared.

Not as a child who should be protected, but as a knight whom she should show gratitude, she was aiming at one she recognized as an enemy. In order to sever that enemy's life absolutely―!

Just before things had become complicated, Ikki had certainly felt it. The footsteps of the reaper. The presence of a sharp sword that would cut away his future. If he defended, he would die...

But be that as it may, now was not like the situation then. It was different from the fight before, where he could underestimate his opponent or retreat. The forward speed of Edelweiss in seriousness could not be compared to that. To say nothing of swordsmanship, this was already to the point where Edelweiss's form had changed to light itself...

And with no sound, it all flickered for a moment before passing. Belatedly, a spray of blood flew in the darkness. Ikki Kurogane had no time to utter a sound―this time, he fell.

...

If her judgment had been a moment late, her life would've been lost. At this truth, Shizuku gasped.

If Alice hadn't cried out, it really would've been dangerous.

An arm had been taken.

"Kuh…"

From the middle of the upper arm, her entire left arm had been cut away. From that perspective, the numbing pain crept up to her brain.

However, there was no room to cry in pain. The enemy before her eyes was preparing another one of the attacks had entirely cut through her fortification of ice and even taken her left arm.

"Hyakuya Kekkai!"

"Hmm!?"

Shizuku's decision in response was appropriate: promptly raising a screen of mist over the surroundings and disappearing from Wallenstein's field of view. And in the gap of Wallenstein losing sight of her, she froze shut the bleeding wound of her left arm―and ran.

Darting around Wallenstein, going to the place that was hidden by Hyakuya Kekkai, the sole place that wasn't perforated by the bullets of Keppu San'u. Where Arisuin was.

A slash that cuts through any kind of protection. A defense that lets him walk calmly even in the middle of a barrage. And a stride that was unaffected by Toudo Heigen.

:If that man's ability is as I expected, it would be the highest among abilities.'

She could not fight him directly. Therefore Shizuku chose to take Arisuin and escape.

But...

"Scampering about… how insolent."

Together with those words, Wallenstein planted his sword into the floor as he stood in the mist.

"Ugh…!?"

Shizuku lost her footing and tumbled down, as if dizzy. She wanted to get up immediately, but no matter how many times she tried, her feet slipped.

'I can't get up…!?'

Was she unable to stand upon the ice that she had made with Toudo Heigen? No. Toudo Heigen was Shizuku's own ability. That power could not hinder Shizuku's movements. All the more given Shizuku's command of magic power.

Then why? ―There was one answer. There was another power in action.

"This is…!"

There was no doubt. Shizuku was sure that her hunch was the truth, and asked Wallenstein who was slowing coming into view through the mist.

"You made the ground lose friction, didn't you…!?"

"What a fast realization. That's quite correct."

Wallenstein answered as he slowly walked up to Shizuku.

"Blocking, slashing, shooting. In this world, the effect of every type of power is greatly related to friction. No matter how fast the bullet, if its speed is stolen by friction at the point of impact, it would have no penetration and fall uselessly at its target's feet. And if an attack was altered by the same power, a blade can be made to unparalleled sharpness that cuts through any material without resistance."

A sword of excellent offense. A shield of divine defense. It was power that manipulated friction, which makes up the foundation of every kind of force.

"...That is the ability that I, the One-Armed Swordsman Wallenstein, possess."

And Wallenstein finally stood before Shizuku.

"Sh-Shizuku! Run awayyyyy!"

Before the eyes of the screaming Arisuin...

He cut the silver-haired girl at the waist, splitting her in two.

"Ah..."

With a thump, the upper body cut at the waist fell to the frozen floor. Spraying an immense quantity of blood and entrails. At that hopeless sight.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Arisuin's cry shook the air.

...

Edelweiss brought Ikki Kurogane down with a single cut.

The expression of the winner… was dyed in astonishment. What she thought back on was the instant of conclusion. The unbelievable incident that developed amidst the entanglement that shined as if with light.

In that instant, Ikki Kurogane had, in front of the world's strongest sword—of all things, he had attacked on his own accord.

Until now, it could not be said that she, the world's strongest, went easy or acted the slightest bit hesitant while using the sword. Becoming serious, she had charged deep in order to take Ikki's life, but he had driven the blade infused with his soul into the needle-thin gap.

To the end, he had been trying to win against her. Against that edge, Edelweiss had been forced to protect herself completely, and as a result—her attack had faltered. A single step had rendered her fatal blow useless.

And so, Edelweiss had not slayed Ikki Kurogane's spirit.

Furthermore, that last bit of swordsmanship he showed was unmistakably….

"…Amazing. I never thought it would be to this degree."

Edelweiss stood beside Ikki who had collapsed, and held her pure-white blade to his throat.

And she smiled slightly.

"If I lay my hand on you as you lie there, it would be me who loses face, wouldn't it?"

At that moment.

"K-Kurogane!"

She turned her gaze toward the voice...

"…Isn't that World Clock?"

"Edelweiss, you bitch...!"

Kurono Shinguuji, the World Clock, had jumped over the wall, and sighted Ikki's bloody and fallen form. Pulling out her Device, a pair of one-white-one-black handguns in anger, she turned the muzzles toward Edelweiss.

"Calm yourself."

At the instant Edelweiss was going to be shot between in the eyes, the fingers on the trigger were frozen in place. It was as if Kurono's heart had exploded from fear. She had landed on the ground, and only just barely pointed the gun barrels, but even so her fingers didn't move.

What was stopping her was none other than Kurono's own instincts. Because if she moved her fingers just a little, the battle was start instantly, and she knew she couldn't win this fight.

"You monster…"

"Even though it's been a long time since we last met, this is your greeting?"

Against Kurono on whose face an uneasy look was spreading, Edelweiss spoke with a cool countenance.

"Be at ease. He is still alive."

"I-Is that true!?"

"Even though I did not intend to spare him."

While smiling a bit bitterly, Edelweiss said this, and jumped silently. Again, she moved to the Akatsuki Academy school building rooftop she had started from.

"Wh-Where are you going!?"

"I'm leaving. After all, I was never really connected to all this in the first place."

Answering so, Edelweiss once again gazed on the young warrior who had faced her. And she thought on the scope of the tribulations he would probably face in the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival that was about to start. She was not directly involved in the plan, but she knew the rough outline of it.

'Most likely, you will learn of it personally. The fated coming battle. What lies in front of Ikki Kurogane was not just the Sword Emperor of Wind and the Crimson Princess. Before long, Amane Shinomiya will stand in your way.'

And that fight will probably be harsh beyond imagining. Even more than the fight against herself.

Thinking this...

"World Clock. If Kurogane wakes, please tell him this for me."

Edelweiss left these words for the Worst One.

"The next time we meet, I hope you will be a worthy opponent."

And just as silently, the world's strongest swordsman disappeared into the night.

"I'll definitely tell him."

Replying like this to the empty air where Edelweiss had been, Kurono rushed over to the fallen Ikki.

Though he had certainly suffered severely… there was not a fatal wound. He could be saved.

Knowing this, Kurono felt profound relief.

"Superb. To face that Edelweiss and still come back alive..."

And when she used her powers over time to plug his wounds...

"…Eh?"

Kurono saw something she couldn't believe at the edge of her peripheral vision.

It was where Edelweiss had been standing just a while ago. Upon the white concrete. What remained there was—red spots.

They were only a few drops, but without a doubt, they were bloodstains. They didn't come from Ikki,

but from the one who had been standing there seconds ago. What that meant was...

'He wounded her!? A kid who just came of age, against the world's highest…!?'

Indeed. He had reached her.

Just a few drops. It was so shallow that one couldn't really call it a wound—even so, the sword of the Worst One had definitely left proof on the world's highest.

"Ha ha ha. …What is this, you just keep on surprising me."

With full delight and surprise, Kurono's entire body shook in excitement.

"…Sheesh. What an ominous boy."

After that, Kurono immediately began to treat Ikki's wounds. In doing so, she reassessed the situation.

Kurono and Nene. When the two of them arrived at Hagun, no one had been there with the exception of the Hagun students who lost consciousness. Therefore with Kurono's ability, they had reviewed what transpired in that place, and Nene had gone after Stella and the others, but Kurono had taken on the task of rescuing Ikki and Shizuku.

And only Ikki was found here. Where were Shizuku and Arisuin? Kurono sharpened her senses, and searched for magic power in the surroundings.

And—she found them.

"This is…!"

Directly below—deep under her feet, something unbelievable had happened.

...

'…Oh, I'm…'

The consciousness of Shizuku, who had been blown away by a tremendous impact as if her entire body had been struck by lightning, slowly came back. Heavy eyelids lifted, and she saw what was in front of her.

'Ali…ce…'

Shizuku looked up. Arisuin's face was there, upside down in her field of view. Though he was saying something with tears flowing down his desperate-looking face, Shizuku couldn't hear anything.

Suddenly, she felt a sense of discomfort, and Shizuku turned her gaze downward. And she realized it. The lower half of her body was gone. That made her remember at last.

'Ahh, I… was cut…'

Did she wake up? The feeling in her body was coming back. Because of that, there was a great sense of loss.

'My lower body. That and most of my innards are gone.'

The entire section had probably fallen out. It was undoubtedly a fatal wound. Shizuku was able to realize that she would likely die in a few seconds.

'It's frustrating, huh?'

Again. She hadn't been able to win. Just like in the fight against Raikiri. Not being able to control the distance during a magic battle, and just defeated by a sword cut.

'I'm… so weak…'

Against another truly strong opponent, she didn't have the power to keep the adversary away.

Realizing this so thoroughly, Shizuku recalled her bitterness.

'If I die… Onii-sama would be sad…'

He would probably be sad. Not just her brother, but Stella and Arisuin, and everyone else—right now, there were many kind people around her. They would probably grieve even for someone with such bad character and low cuteness. That scene clearly came to mind. So she thought―this was… not what she wanted.

'...In that case, I should give it another try, right?'

After losing to Raikiri, she had always been thinking. With her power, she was always losing against the sword. And she couldn't do anything about that. With her small, powerless body, it was impossible to control a close-range battle. She couldn't help that. And she could only think of one way to make up for that weakness.

It was something tremendously risky, so she hadn't been able to try it until now, but—at any rate, she was going to die in a few seconds even if she didn't use it. She didn't want to leave something untried.

'I can, if I'll put everything into it...'

Just like her esteemed older brother was always doing. She would believe in her own strength.

Resolving herself, Shizuku closed her eyes. And...

...

"Shizuku… Shizuku…"

Arisuin held Shizuku's fallen body close. A gurgling sound was coming from her wound, while blood and viscera were spilling out rapidly. Her weight. Her life. Sensing that they were fading, Arisuin's view grew dark. Once again, feeling the loss of a little sister he had cherished and wanted to protect, all of his emotions were paling away to nothing. Rage at his own helplessness. Anger at the man who had stolen Shizuku's life. All of them, he couldn't feel anything anymore. He didn't even have the will to cry out.

"This is the reality that have tried to avert your eyes from."

From behind him, Wallenstein's voice came.

"Only power is true. Even though I taught you this, and pulled you to the side of the strong. If you can't even understand this, you are beyond saving."

A dumbfounded voice. Disappointment at a personal disciple who was embracing Shizuku's body, even though it had already become nothing but a corpse.

"I have no need for an assassin who develops feelings for his target. Die."

The sound of wind being cut behind him hit Arisuin's ears. It was probably the sound of Wallenstein raising his sword. Arisuin didn't think of protecting himself. Instead, he thought of peace arriving soon. At this time, the weight of Shizuku in his arms was disappearing steadily. Because he knew he wouldn't recover it again, he didn't have any feelings about the defeat.

Steadily, steadily, the petite body was getting lighter.

Steadily, steadily, the weight he could feel in his arms was disappearing...

'Eh…!?'

There, Arisuin finally noticed something unfathomable.

The weight was disappearing to the point where he couldn't feel it? That was impossible. Even if all the blood and viscera fell out, the muscles and bones in the human body would still remain. That sense of displacement shined a light into the darkness of Arisuin's view. He looked down on what

was in his hands. There, the remains of Shizuku's body was...

...gone. Leaving only her clothes.

And the next moment...

"It's okay, Alice."

Shizuku's voice echoed with dignity through the underground training arena.

"...Eh!?"

"Wh-What!?"

In astonishment, Arisuin and Wallenstein scanned for Shizuku in the surroundings. However, Shizuku wasn't found anywhere. No, on the contrary, even the blood and entrails that had been scattered just a while ago had also vanished.

"Wh-What is this!? What did you do!?"

At the situation that was moving too far beyond comprehension, Wallenstein cried out in confusion.

And amidst the confusion of Wallenstein and Arisuin — Shizuku Kurogane appeared.

Appeared like a status formed of gathered mist, stark naked with unblemished body. And she opened her mouth to speak.

"It's okay–because I'll win."

"Shizuku, you're… alive?"

Arisuin stared at Shizuku as if she was a ghost. He hadn't taken in the situation yet. But beside him, Wallenstein...

"How can this be…!"

From his instincts born of many battles, he realized that there was only one way this situation was possible. And in order to make sure, he swung his sword at Shizuku who was standing before his eyes.

Shizuku, without moving to defend herself, received the attack on her body. A cut–Wallenstein's Device once again bisected Shizuku.

But this time no blood sprayed forth. There was no response except a spray of mist, and though Shizuku's form had been split, it immediately returned to normal–seeing this, Wallenstein was convinced.

"Y-You little rat…! You changed your own body to vapor!?"

In response, the mouth on Shizuku's flickering form curved slightly.

"Ha ha ha. As I thought, you're not just that old for show, right mister?"

Shizuku confirmed it with a sadistic sneer. Indeed. That was the true nature of how Shizuku had survived.

"I was defeated in the selection battles by Raikiri, so I've always been thinking."

...That though she had skill, she lacked determination. When facing opposition, there was nothing she could do but take a fatal wound–then how should she deal with it?

"I thought and thought… and suddenly, I hit upon an answer. Ahh, that's right. I take damage because I have a body of flesh."

In that case, she would remove that premise. In doing so, this technique was created. An aspect of water magic, an application of healing techniques for the human body, a Noble Art that disintegrates her own body into mist and dust to the point where slashes and strikes no longer affect her and then voluntarily reconstructing it...

"Aoiro Rinne — I've come up with an amazing technique, right?"

Shizuku spoke with a face that was slightly boastful. At Shizuku's explanation, Wallenstein became more and more pale.

"Come… up with it!? Do you know what you've done to yourself? Do you understand it!?"

Wallenstein's discomposure was natural. Because although Aoiro Rinne was temporary, it was a technique that severs one's own life.

"With a top-class magic control, you can reconstruct something, but it's impossible to do so after dying…! No, even if you could do it, if you make the slightest error in reconstituting the trillions of cells in the human body, I don't even know how difficult it would be…! To use that kind of power on your own body…! Are you sane, you little…!?"

Certainly there was great merit in overriding the physics of an attack. But to do so, an overly powerful technique was necessary. The burden of risk was too great. Therefore to Wallenstein in his consternation, Shizuku...

"I'm plenty sane. If it's me, it can be done, I believed."

...declared so, as if it was nothing.

At those words, Wallenstein was convinced. He had obtained information about Hagun in advance, but he had only judged Stella Vermillion as an opponent worthy of attention. But he had overlooked someone. The Lorelei, who was right under his nose, was like Stella someone very different from the masses. A prodigy beyond the pale.

"What an embarrassing oversight…. But I haven't lost yet—"

Wallenstein said so, and took up his stance again. But...

"Oh? Could it be you're thinking of fighting me again, I wonder?"

...with a laugh, Shizuku smiled on him as if scoffing.

"What did you say–!?"

At that instant, Wallenstein who had recovered from his attack on Aoiro Rinne noticed something about himself.

"*Cough cough*… gah…!?"

The air he was exhaling was not returning as inhales. His lungs could not be filled with air. As if he was drowning–yes, he was on the verge of drowning.

"If the lungs are turned to water balloons, humans would become like this, right? As I expected of this technique, it's not something other people at school can possibly do, so it's the first time you've seen it."

Shizuku who was using Aoiro Rinne like this had turned all the atmosphere in the whole place the same way. Therefore, she could establish control over all of it–including the air that Wallenstein was breathing.

Wallenstein's ability to control friction certainly was an unparalleled power pertaining to external slashes and strikes. However...

"If it's inside the body, there's nothing friction can do, am I right?"

"Gah… ukk…!"

Wallenstein, drowning in an invisible sea, finally couldn't keep standing and fell to the floor with his eyes wide and his mouth opening and closing like a fish washed up on shore desperately seeking oxygen.

"Hmm? What's that? What did you say?"

"S…Sp–Spare… me!"

"Oh, you want me to let you go?"

It was actually a declaration of surrender. Wallenstein had decided that winning fight was impossible at this point, and was waving the white flag at Shizuku.

"But I won't."

Shizuku gave a merciless smile, and snapped her fingers. At that moment, blood flew from Wallenstein's entire body.

"–GAAAAHHH!"

Flesh tore from inside his body, and dozens of ice spears erupted from within him. That attack completely severed the consciousness of the One-Armed Swordsman. Wallenstein, while discharging blood mixed with water from his mouth, fainted.

And Shizuku lowered her cold gaze on her opponent as if he was trash.

"I'm not as nice as Onii-sama, or as gentle as Stella-san, so I can't help but cut an enemy who attacked me to shreds. –You chose the wrong foe."

She tore Wallenstein's overcoat off of him. With it she covered her own skin, and turned her gaze away. She had already lost interest.

In this way, the fight between the One-Armed Swordsman and Lorelei came to a close.

...

"As long as I try, I can do it somehow or other, right? I'm not something to disregard so easily."

Reconstructing her flesh, Shizuku checked her sense of touch by opening and closing her hand. There was no discomfort in that feeling. It seemed the reconstruction magic had functioned properly.

However, it wasn't like there was no problems at all.

"…The mental exertion was too much. I feel kind of sick."

After processing excessively high-level magic, her head was screaming. The agony as if her cranium was churning made Shizuku aware of her own lack of skill. It seemed it would be best to refrain from reckless magic for a while.

To Shizuku who had checked her own condition in that way–Arisuin asked with a face covered in wonder.

"Shizuku… you're really alive?"

"Oh stop it. You're looking at me like I'm a monster."

Shizuku pouted in ill humor.

But Arisuin wanting to ask was understandable, because Shizuku's act had been a miracle.

"At any rate, I thought Aoiro Rinne out well, but having my clothes slip off every time is a problem, right? I don't want to show myself like this to anyone besides Onii-sama."

However, at seeing Shizuku who was in all respects the same as usual, relief had surpassed astonishment.

"…Ha ha ha. Yes, it's true. You're really alive. Thank goodness."

Arisuin fell onto his back in this place, and with tears flowing down at the truth before his eyes, he rejoiced.

"Really, thank goodness…"

But to Arisuin–

"That's what I should be saying."

Shizuku's lips drew sharp in discontent–and kneeling down, she embraced his head. Tenderly, affectionately.

"I… thought you might have already been killed."

"Sh-Shizuku…"

"Sheesh. Don't make worry like that…big sister."

Shizuku rejoiced at his safety with a voice just slightly trembling. That trembling voice–jolted Arisuin deep inside, and the emotions that had grown cold in his head a while ago, heated up once again.

Suddenly, what came to mind was the frightened expressions of his little sisters at seeing his blood-soaked body. Seeing that, he had thought he couldn't remain with them any longer. He, a murderer, must not stay with them. And surely, he thought, Shizuku would look at him with the same eyes. He had convinced himself of that on his own. Even Shizuku, wouldn't want to stay at his side, probably.

But… but…. But if Shizuku was still calling him "big sister"–

"Can I… stay by your side again… I wonder…?"

"Are you attaching yourself to me just because it's what you think I want?"

The head that was being held shook in denial. That wasn't the case. There was a bigger reason.

"Thank you… Shizuku…"

"Then we're even, right?"

"Then we're even, right?"

While giggling, Shizuku coughed those words. Arisuin quickly realized what those words meant–now that she mentioned it, there was the time he had hugged Shizuku after she had lost to Raikiri, wasn't there?

"…Really."

Becoming strangely happy at sharing something so trivial, Arisuin also returned a smile–and he swore in his heart.

He would not betray her again. He would stay with this girl to the end. And he would protect her and the ones important to her. After all, they were precious to this incredibly sweet girl–

He would change himself, and continue to uphold this desire, because he wanted to become a proud human being.

...

What Kurono had felt was the movement of a bizarre magic power that she had never experienced before. That magic power that Shizuku Kurogane had become was subtle to the point that one couldn't detect it, but the span of it was wide, and its movement in converging back into human form again was erratic.

Why did that movement happen? Kurono, who knew Shizuku's magic power, guessed right away.

"She decomposed herself and then reconstructed?"

That unbelievable resuscitation was an amazing miracle.

"…Sheesh. First the brother, then the sister? What an outrageous pair of siblings."

Coughing in astonishment, Kurono scanned even more precisely the situation underground. Seeing the degree of response to magic power, it appeared that the enemy had already been silenced. It would probably be fine to pass that off as a peripheral miracle. Feeling just a moment of relief at this...

Kurono looked toward the western sky.

It turned out okay over here somehow, but what about over there? Nene...

...

"Black Blade ・ Yatagarasu..."

"Kusanagi–!"

A magic blade of lightning darker than night crashed into a sword of tornado winds, and the two knights wielding them were both repelled backward. While losing his footing on the gravel mountain path, the Sword Emperor of Wind Ouma Kurogane clicked his tongue.

"As I thought, the power drops by the third usage."

On the other side, the petite woman fighting against him who was dancing back through the air, the Yaksha Princess Nene Saikyou turned gracefully in midair, and dropped down in front of the Hagure sisters who had been cornered upon the deserted mountain.

"Sensei!"

"It looks like I got here just in time~"

"*Sniffle* We're saved…"

"Ahh. You've really been holding on. It's okay now."

After confirming the two of them and the fainted Stella were safe, Saikyou felt a moment of relief, and...

"Nooooow then…"

...immediately faced back toward the enemy in front of her. Akatsuki Academy–at the only one she recognized among them, Saikyou made a declaration.

"Haven't seen you since your grade school days, right? Ouma-chan. You really became huge."

"And you haven't grown at all."

"That's none of your business–anyway, I want to teach you a lesson right now, but what's the meaning of all this fooling around? Talk, and I'll hear you out, okay?"

Saikyou spread her weapon, an iron fan, and asked Ouma while concealing her lips behind it.

But the one who answered was Amane, who was standing behind Ouma in reserve. He, with a peculiar smile that could be described as simple-minded, answered Saikyou's question.

"Instead of chatting, how about negotiating you handing over those three people to us instead?"

In an instant.

"Ha ha. Negotiating. Is that what you said–little boy?"

The air hardened with a *crack*.

"Don't try to play make-believe with an adult, brat."

Every one of Akatsuki's members was assaulted by weight. No, not just Akatsuki. With Saikyou at the center, everything within twenty meters was being crushed into the ground by an invisible force. It was Saikyou's Noble Art that used gravity, Jibakujin. Akatsuki, who had suddenly been struck by gravity making them ten times as heavy as normal, all collapsed onto the ground as if they were sinking into it.

Except for only one person, Ouma Kurogane, who stood upright and faced Saikyou without moving even an eyebrow. Ouma slowly turned Ryuuzume toward Saikyou, and Saikyou also once again charged a pure and enormous gravitational energy into the twin iron fans she had materialized, having

it take the form of the blade called Black Sword ・Yatagarasu...

"Ah, stop stop! Please hold on a second!"

Between the two of them, the inappropriately-dressed Pierrot Reisen Hiraga interrupted. After delivering Arisuin to Wallenstein, he had immediately turned around and just barely managed to catch up with his compatriots, and...

"Everyone, please withdraw. We don't need those three."

...he urged Akatsuki to retreat.

"...Is that alright?"

"Yes. Well, we've probably made enough of an impact, and more than anything else, if the Yaksha Princess is our opponent then there's too high a risk. If the Yaksha Princess seriously went on a rampage, Ouma-kun might be fine, but I don't think the other members will escape unscathed. And our sponsor doesn't want us beaten before the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival. So let's escape here somehow."

"…Hmph."

At those words, Ouma sheathed his sword in boredom.

"Yaksha Princess, this wouldn't be a problem, right?"

Saikyou, who had been asked–spent a moment in silence, then returned her twin iron fans to her kimono sleeves. There were too many enemies. Fighting by herself was one thing, but she knew she had to ensure the safety of the students behind her. It was the duty of a teacher to protect the students. Since that was the case, she had no reason reject the proposal.

"...Be glad I happen to be a teacher, you shitty brats."

"We appreciate your understanding."

And like that, the strife starting from the Hagun Academy attack on the eve of the Festival came to an end.

All Akatsuki, beginning with Reisen Hiraga, disappeared into the darkness without looking at the Hagure sisters and Stella. On the mountain path, there was nothing more than the sound of the wind passing through the trees.

"...Sponsor, huh?"

Within that, Saikyou ruminated on Hiraga's words, and looked up to the sky with a bitter face.

"These guys seem like they'll become awfully troublesome, Kuu-chan."