by Yuu Miyazaki
Not missing the opening, Song spun around on the spot and delivered an air-piercing backfist strike aimed at Ayato’s face.
Ayato raised his arm to barely deflect the blow, then leaped back to a safe distance.
It came as no surprise, but fighting at close range placed him at too great a disadvantage. He had to make use of the reach of his weapon to fight on his terms, or else this would not be much of a contest at all.
“So…the rumors are true.” Song unhurriedly assumed a fighting stance. The form was unique, with his hips low and his left leg far out in front—a stance for some sort of hand-to-hand combat, but Ayato, not well versed in Chinese martial arts, could not identify the style.
“My, my! This is a startling development—Amagiri is completely on the defensive! Now Song’s attacks are impressive, that’s for sure, but could this mean those rumors about Amagiri are true?!”
“He didn’t open with his usual incantation, either. His level of prana and its refinement are nowhere near the level we’ve seen from him before, so, looks pretty definitive. Anyway…”
Ayato steadied his breathing, shut out the noise around him, and focused.
A single moment’s lapse in concentration would end the match. He had to keep his eyes on every one of Song’s punches and kicks, prepared to defend against any maneuver.
But just then—he heard a sharp cry from Julis.
“Sorry, Ayato! He got past me!”
Luo, coming around from Ayato’s left, thrust with his battlestaff hard enough to impale him.
“!”
Ayato dodged by a hair’s breadth, but the staff changed trajectory midway and descended on him from above.
When Ayato raised his sword to deflect it, Song had already circled around from the other side to deliver a lightning-fast jumping kick. This attack found its mark, and pain shot through him as if the kick had taken out a piece of his side.
And then Song landed on his toes atop the tip of Luo’s staff. With immaculate timing, Luo used it as a lever to launch Song upward.
“How…!” Ayato cried. They were a perfect team.
Song danced through the air to land behind Ayato and, without giving him time to react, nailed him in the back with a palm strike.
“—!”
A tiny sound escaped him, and a shock far worse than before shot through his body. Ayato nearly fainted, but he somehow forced himself to endure and tumbled away from his opponents.
“Hmm, you withstood that attack… You are good,” Song murmured, impressed, but as he took his stance again, Ayato could not find even the trace of an opening to retaliate.
Luo also closed in slowly from the other side.
This was just about the worst-case scenario. One opponent was already enough to overwhelm him. Two on one was no fight at all.
Except it wasn’t two on one.
“Blossom—Loropetalum!”
At Julis’s shout, high and clear, a massive wall of flames erupted from the ground to divide the stage from one edge to the other. It had to be almost thirty feet high. Not even a Genestella could jump over it without assistance.
“What’s this…?” Song looked up in surprise at the wall of fire but quickly grasped the intent behind it. “I see—you separated us.”
Indeed, only Ayato and Song were on this side of the wall.
That meant Julis and Luo had to be on the other side, but the raging flames were impossible to see through.
“Wow-wee! Is this another of Riessfeld’s moves? A wall of fire suddenly split the stage in half! Our guests can follow the action on the big monitor. We’ll show you the fight from both sides with a split screen!”
“Now we’re back to one-on-one,” Ayato said to his opponent as he stood, then wiped his mouth. Blood came away on his hand, but there was no time to worry about that now.
“Oh… You think you have a chance if it’s one-on-one?” Song fixed Ayato with a hawk-like gaze and carefully resumed his stance.
“To be honest, I don’t think my odds are that great. But I can’t just give up, can I?” Ayato readied his sword in front of him and gauged the distance to Song.
Julis had done her part, and now it was his turn. He had to find a way to prepare for the next step in their plan. And he had to endure his opponents’ attacks in the process.
“Hee-hee. You’re right, of course.” Song laughed softly. “It was a stupid question. I apologize.”
Just for an instant, a faint smile came to Song’s face—and immediately vanished.
“Is that the best you can do? You’re not living up to your reputation, Glühen Rose!”
“Ugh…!”
Julis bit her lip as she barely fended off Luo’s vicious offensive.
Phase one was to force the fight into two one-on-one contests. They had accomplished that. Since this was a critical step in her plan, it was safe to say everything was going well up to that point.
Her one miscalculation was that Luo’s skill far surpassed her expectations.
She hadn’t taken him lightly in the first place, but now she had the feeling she would learn the extent of Jie Long Seventh Institute’s talent the hard way.
He’s their twenty-third? He’d easily make Page One at Seidoukan…!
Without voicing her frustration, Julis fended off Luo’s staff with her rapier and used Livingston Daisy to attack him from above and behind. But deftly manipulating his long weapon, Luo held on at a close distance while not letting any of the flaming chakrams near him.
“Ah—that’s not true, is it? You’re using some of your strength to keep up this wall of fire.” Luo leaped back for a moment and glanced at the partition behind Julis. “Maintaining so much firepower on such a large scale must take an extraordinary amount of prana. That limits the prana you can use to fight.”
And he’s a keen observer, to boot.
“We’ll see about that.” Julis withdrew her chakrams and readjusted their formation.
Normally, she could make over a dozen chakrams with the Livingston Daisy technique. But dividing her prana and concentration as she was now, she could only manage six.
Luo and Song had participated in three Festa events, including the current Phoenix Tournament. Judging by that record alone, they were far more experienced than Ayato and Julis. Still, Julis hadn’t thought he would see through her plan so easily.
“If that’s the case, I could hardly call this a good strategy. There must be other ways to force us to fight divided without going through all this trouble.”
He was correct on that count, as well.
If all they wanted was a pair of one-on-one matches, there were countless other ways to make that happen.
But that would only postpone defeat. It would not lead to victory.
“We had no choice,” Julis said. “This was the only way for us to win.”
“Hmm. So you have something else up your sleeve.” Luo smirked as he twirled his staff. “I can’t wait to see it, but you’d better make it quick. Or else the other fight will be over.”
“Do you mean to say that my teammate will lose?”
“In his current condition, Murakumo is no match for us. You know that, don’t you?” Luo replied as if it was obvious.
“Yes, you’re right. For Ayato to beat one of you now, he’d have to catch you off guard.”
“Off guard? Well, neither I nor Song is careless enough for that.” Luo repositioned his staff, signaling an end to their conversation.
“…”
Julis retreated a step to arrange the chakrams into a defensive formation.
At the same time, she sensed where the other pair was on the other side of the wall and checked the ground out of the corner of her eye.
A little more to the right…
“—There!” Luo lunged to take advantage of the opening.
He swept the chakrams up and out of his way with his staff and leaped into Julis’s range before she could blink.
“Oh no—”
&nbs
p; “Too slow!”
The attack streaked through the air into her torso and sent her rapier flying.
“Agh…!”
She reflexively twisted to protect her school crest and cried out in pain as she sailed across the stage.
That might have broken a few ribs… But with this timing—!
Julis prepared for impact, then let the Livingston Daisy chakrams dissipate as she concentrated.
“Not so fast!” Luo flew in to deliver the finishing blow.
Julis only laughed through her pain.
His opponent excelled in fighting from a distance, and she had just lost her weapon. His decision was correct.
Yes—Luo was right. And that fact made her next move possible.
“Burst into bloom—Amaryllis Duo Flos!”
A small fireball formed in each palm.
Still, Luo did not flinch. He was absolutely confident the advantage was his at this distance.
Julis, however, shot the fireball in her right hand not at Luo, but straight up.
“To be honest, I’m amazed.”
Though he said he was impressed, Song’s expression was one of exasperation.
“It’s truly impressive that you’ve fended off my attacks so well, even though you can only manage defense. And your reactions have clearly improved since the start of the match. You’re using my breathing, my range, my timing—it’s a testament to your ability to adapt. Sadly, though, your body doesn’t seem capable of keeping up.”
With his back against the raging wall of fire and his lungs heaving, Ayato kept his eyes fixed on Song and never weakened his focus.
He had managed to avoid taking a critical hit, but the cumulative damage was getting hard to ignore. His uniform was ripped and torn all over, and he had more bruises and cuts on his body than he could count.
Even so, the tip of the sword in Ayato’s hand pointed straight and steady at Song.
“If you were at full strength, our positions might have been reversed by now,” Song went on. “No, I doubt I could have held out as long.”
“I think you’re being too kind,” Ayato replied courteously as he calmed his ragged breaths.
Song was definitely tough, no surprise for someone who had advanced to the Fifth Round of the Phoenix. But Ayato found himself admiring Song’s strength, independent of any weapon or special ability—a power that was purely the fruit of physical training.
Not that he was about to give up. Ayato and Julis had two more cards in their hand—and they were ready to play them.
Ayato glanced down to see the star symbol Julis had carved earlier at his feet.
Now all that was left was the timing.
“I can hardly bear to bring you more pain. As a gesture of my respect, I will end this with the next attack.” With that, prana rushed into Song’s fist.
By channeling their prana into a single point, trained Jie Long fighters were said to be able to unleash destructive attacks not unlike Meteor Arts. That had to be what Song was doing now.
“No matter how you try to defend against it, my hand will shatter any weapon or limb in its path. It may not be as powerful as your Orga Lux, but I recommend you dodge rather than block. If you can, that is!”
The moment he finished speaking, Song leaped swiftly into the target range.
An earth-shaking stomp, followed by a gouging palm strike.
Song was too close to dodge. And, as Song had said, defending was impossible for Ayato in his current state. That much was obvious from the overwhelming level of prana concentrated in the Jie Long warrior’s hand.
But just before his palm could reach Ayato’s chest, a small burst of fire exploded above their heads.
Fireworks—!
This was their signal.
—One instant.
Just once, for a fraction of a second, Ayato released his full strength, dodged Song’s palm strike, and streaked toward the wall of fire towering behind him.
“What…?!”
He heard Song’s cry of astonishment, but his attention was already elsewhere.
Just before the fire swallowed Ayato, it parted like the Red Sea in the story of Moses. And across from Ayato was Julis, who had likewise leaped into the wall from the other side.
They exchanged a glance as they passed each other through the flames licking at their skin. With that, Ayato and Julis traded targets.
“How—?!”
“It can’t be!!”
Song and Luo, their eyes wide with panic, frantically tried to fall back into stance. But they were far too late.
There was nothing they could do. Luo had been facing Julis, who excelled in long-distance attacks; Song had fought Ayato, who could only handle close combat.
Now, the two were completely off guard.
“Amagiri Shinmei Style, First Technique—Twin Serpents!”
“Burst!”
Ayato’s blade sliced Luo’s school crest, and the fireball from Julis’s hand shattered Song’s.
“End of battle! Winners: Ayato Amagiri and Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld!”
As the automated voice announced the result of the match, the wall of fire vanished. Ayato and Julis both collapsed onto their knees with deep sighs.
The audience’s shock was no less than Song and Luo’s. Stunned silence filled the arena. But then, a smattering of applause swelled into a tidal wave of cheering.
“Whew… We won, but…”
“But just barely.”
Ayato and Julis headed down the hallway to the prep room, skipping out on the winners’ interview again.
The interviews were not required, but repeated cancellations frustrated the press and—given the nature of the Festa—could lead to a drop in popularity for the fighters. Today neither Ayato nor Julis had the energy to answer any questions.
They had won, but as Julis said, it was as close as it could have been. The slightest error in timing would have cost them the match.
“Still, making it through today was big,” she said. “We have a day of rest tomorrow. And then you’ll be able to fight at full strength again, right?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine… But what about you, Julis? Didn’t you get hurt…?”
“Oh, this is nothing. They might be cracked, but nothing seems to be broken.” Julis lightly rubbed at her ribs with a pained smile.
She had taken a direct hit from Luo’s staff. It couldn’t possibly be such a minor injury. And yet she continued to speak as if it were no more than a light bruise.
“But the real problem is our next opponents,” she said. “Even with you at full strength, they could give us a lot of trouble.”
“Oh, yeah. They’re—”
Ayato paused in his steps. Up ahead, there were two men standing in front of their prep room.
Julis noticed a moment later. Her eyes widened in surprise. “Now here are some unexpected guests. You couldn’t have come to congratulate us. What do you want?”
Song and Luo answered her question with earnest looks.
“That’s exactly what we came to do. Should we have refrained?”
“You dealt us a sound defeat today. Truly impressive.”
Ayato and Julis looked at each other in surprise.
“Huh—? W-well, um—thank you.”
“Uh, thanks…”
They responded with confusion to the unexpected congratulations.
Song reached his hand out to Julis. “You must have been the one to come up with that plan, Glühen Rose. The idea, the timing—it was outstanding teamwork that required genuine faith in each another.”
Julis still appeared bewildered, even as she shook his hand.
“But be careful. That kind of plan won’t work against your next opponents.”
“What do you mean by that?” Her eyes flashed with suspicion.
“No need to be so skeptical,” Song said, undaunted. “We’re not here to trick you. This is a genuine warning. You can take us at our word.”
“You expect us to tru
st you just like that? You have no obligation to help us. In fact, our next opponents are from your side.”
Their match was the last of Round Five, so Ayato and Julis knew who their next rivals would be. In Round Six—the quarterfinals—they would be up against another pair of Jie Long students, both Page One fighters.
“Just because we come from the same school doesn’t mean we’re on the same side. Or does everyone at Seidoukan get along perfectly?”
“Uh, w-well… You may have a point, but…” Julis trailed off and averted her eyes.
It was true. There was infighting at Seidoukan even though they all attended the same school—rather, precisely because they did. That was probably true at every school. The only exception to the rule was Gallardworth, but even that lofty place might have been subject to its own internal strife.
“It’s simple, really,” Luo said. “Your next opponents, Shenyun and Shenhua Li… Well, let’s just say we don’t get along with them. That doesn’t mean we’ll share their weaknesses, but…”
“We’ve taken a liking to you two. At least, we like you more than those twins. So we wanted to let you know we’ll be rooting for you. That’s all.” Song smiled dryly and shrugged.
They didn’t seem to be lying.
“All right,” Julis conceded. “Then let me ask you again… What did you mean when you said a plan like that won’t work?”
“Because that’s exactly where those twins excel. They have an exceptional gift for trickery, deceit, and surprise attacks. No matter what scheme you concoct, they’ll see right through it and outdo you. And they’ll never use your kind of strategy.”
“Our kind of strategy…?” Ayato said.
Song turned an earnest gaze on him. “Your gambit treated your opponents as equals. It had risks, and you accepted those risks. You made a calculated decision. That’s why we can accept our defeat—although I’d be lying if I said we weren’t disappointed.”
“But those two aren’t like that,” Luo added. “They’ll never face you on your level. They always sneer at their opponents and establish a situation where they hold an absolute advantage. They never expose themselves to harm. And they crush their opponents as they please. It is battle without respect, and it does not allow for tactics. That is how the Li twins fight. And we don’t like their way of doing things.”