by Yuu Miyazaki
There were clearly too many sandwiches in the basket for him to finish on his own. This had to be a portion for two, Ayato thought, but Julis showed no signs of partaking.
“Well, sure, I will, but…” The unspoken half of the sentence weighed down on her.
Confused, Ayato tried to imagine what she wanted to say but couldn’t think of anything.
This went on for a bit, until Julis grew impatient and her glare became sullen. “…It’s not very fair, you know.”
“Fair?”
“Well, um… To do that to Sasamiya and Toudou but not to me seems, well, inconsistent… Er, not that I particularly want you to do anything, but…,” Julis mumbled vaguely.
Finally, Ayato realized—Could she be talking about that?
“Oh, is that it…? You too, Julis?”
The color in her cheeks high, Julis briskly turned away, but she did not deny it.
“W-well then, um, if I may…”
Ayato lightly placed his hand on top of her head and petted it gently. A scent of flowers softly tickled his nose. Alone in the room with her, he felt a little embarrassed.
Julis appeared to share the sentiment; her already red cheeks blushed redder still.
How long have I been doing this? In their mutual silence, Ayato had a poor grasp of time and had no idea when he should stop.
“I know! We should check on the other matches while we finish lunch…!” After a moment, Julis abruptly changed the subject and turned on the television.
“Oh, yeah. It looked like there would be lots of interesting matches today.” Taking the hint, Ayato pulled back his hand but did not know what to do with it.
Coming up empty, he reached for another sandwich. Just as tasty as the last.
“Oh…” Julis flipped through the channels until her finger froze in place. “So, their match is today, too.”
Hearing the gravity in her voice, Ayato looked up at the screen to see a male student built like a boulder bulging under a Seidoukan uniform.
The fighter facing him was a female student from Le Wolfe wielding an enormous scythe.
“Don’t rush in. Got it, Randy?”
With the Bardiche-Leo in his hands, Lester MacPhail called to Randy Hooke behind him.
“I know, Lester. We’re going to stall them as much as possible. Right?”
“Right. Just keep ’em at bay. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Stalling for time was an atypical strategy for him, but he had little choice. Their opponent was ranked third at Le Wolfe. Much as he hated to admit it, she was far stronger.
“Hey there—Lester, was it?” Irene Urzaiz casually addressed him.
Although the match had already started, she hadn’t even bothered to take a fighting stance. Her huge scythe, the Gravisheath, still rested on her shoulder.
“What do you want?” Lester cautiously kept his distance.
If there was one thing he had learned in the recent past—specifically, from his bitter defeats—it was that discretion might be the better part of valor.
“You’re a friend of the Murakumo’s, right? There’s some luck. You wanna tell me about him?”
“Huh?” Lester scowled at the unexpected question.
“It’s not like I’m super-interested but, you know, since we’re here.”
“I’ve got no idea why you’d wanna know, but lemme clear up a couple things. First, I only happen to go to the same school as him. I’m not his friend,” Lester said, disgusted, then repositioned the Bardiche-Leo and pointed it toward Irene. “And second, I came here for a fight, not some stupid chitchat.”
“Heh… Yeah, okay. Sorry.” Irene shrugged, then spun the Gravisheath around and slammed its butt against the ground. “Well then, if you that’s what you want, let’s get started.”
Irene bared her teeth in a grin, and the Gravisheath roared like a wild beast.
“Randy, run!” Lester shouted, and began to run himself. But he did not charge in recklessly. He skirted around his opponent from the right, maintaining distance and waiting for an opening.
Irene’s Gravisheath was a powerful Orga Lux with the ability to control gravity. However, that didn’t mean there was no hope of defeating her.
First of all, that ability was widely known, which made it possible to form a strategy against it. The Gravisheath’s power could not target a specific object, but only an area. That meant its target could avoid its power by staying constantly on the move.
Second, the Gravisheath’s biggest weakness was how much energy it took to wield. Orga Luxes were generally known to have some side effects—a “cost”—and in the case of the Gravisheath, the cost was particularly vicious. This was why it had passed through the hands of so many students with only a few able to use it fully.
That means if I can drag this out, we’ve got the advantage!
Lester’s usual style was to strike first and strike hard, but that wouldn’t work here, and there was nothing to be done. After all, winning was the most important thing.
If there was one cause for concern, it was Irene’s partner, Priscilla. She was backed up against the corner of the stage, showing no sign of making a move. She followed Irene with anxious eyes, but nothing more.
There was almost no data on Priscilla, but seeing how she had behaved in just the same way in the first round, she did not seem to be a proactive fighter. It was possible that she had some sort of ability—perhaps as a Strega with the power to attack from a long distance or defend her partner—but for now, Lester thought it was enough to keep an eye on her.
“Jeez… Everybody always tries the same damn thing. Don’t you have a shred of originality?” Irene looked supremely irritated as she swung the Gravisheath with one hand. The purple urm-manadite shone brighter, enough to illuminate the floor of the stage. “Besides, you’re not even good enough to pull it off.”
“Guh!” Randy, who had been running around Irene opposite Lester, suddenly fell to the ground.
It looked as if an invisible hand was pinning him down, and his face contorted in pain. Irene must have strengthened the gravitational field around him.
“Randy!” Lester cried out.
“See, what’d I tell ya? You can scurry around all you want, but all I have to do is to set the area a little wider—and then it’s all over.” With that, Irene swung the Gravisheath again. This time the purple light gathered around the fallen Randy.
Randy groaned in agony. Apparently, narrowing the area of the effect made the gravitational field more intense.
“I don’t think so!” While Irene fixated on Randy, Lester closed in behind her and brought down the Bardiche-Leo. But—
“Didn’t I tell you? No creativity.” Irene used the Gravisheath as a pole to vault into the air, dodging Lester’s attack while landing a sharp and forceful kick to his neck.
As Lester went down on his knee with a grunt, Irene struck with another kick to his stomach, sending his enormous body flying.
“I’ll get to you in a bit. Hold on tight,” Irene said as she sauntered over to Randy.
“Stop—You…!” Lester croaked.
Irene ignored him and spoke to the prone young man. “Wanna give up?”
“N-never…!”
Irene coldly towered over him as he struggled to speak. At his reply, she let out a short sigh and swung the Gravisheath nonchalantly. Its purple glow intensified even further as Randy tensed up, voiceless.
His efforts to push himself off the ground failed. His arms went limp, and the emblem on his chest announced—
“Randy Hooke—unconscious.”
“One down.” Irene turned her eyes on Lester, who had just managed to stand up. “Wow. You’re pretty tough, Ax of the Roaring Distance.”
“Your mistake, if you think I’m not…!” Lester focused prana into the Bardiche-Leo, where it reacted with the manadite for an explosive burst of energy.
It was his Meteor Arts technique, Blast Nemea.
“Take this!”
He delivered a stroke with his ax of light, twice the usual size.
Irene blocked it with the Gravisheath, but it was impossible to fend off completely. She was sent flying backward.
“How’d you like that?!” Lester was confident that the raw power of the Blast Nemea had no equal at Seidoukan. Even if it was not a direct hit, he was sure he had dealt her some damage.
“Ouuuch… Guess I did take you a bit too lightly. You’re not ninth at Seidoukan for nothing. ” But Irene got back on her feet with only a slight grimace.
Did she actually jump back to soften the impact…?!
Her earlier kicks and this latest defensive maneuver spoke to some extraordinary skills in physical combat. “So… There’s more to you than just the fancy weapon.”
Focusing his mind anew, Lester re-established his distance from Irene. Losing Randy hurt, but things were still going according to plan. If he kept forcing her to use her ability, she would hit a wall. All he had to do was hold out…
“Tch. I didn’t wanna show my hand before the main tournament, but…guess that’s what I gotta do,” Irene said. “Out of respect for your strength, I’ll let you see my full power for a bit.”
“What—?” Lester scowled.
He knew, more or less, the power of the Gravisheath. It could intensify the gravitational field in an area to push down an opponent, or control the direction of gravity’s pull. Although there were probably many ways to utilize it, as far as he knew that was the extent of her weapon’s power.
Is she bluffing…? he thought.
Ignoring Lester’s suspicious glare, Irene walked toward Priscilla and gently drew her close.
“Irene…”
“Sorry, Priscilla. I’ll only take a little.”
Irene opened her mouth wide. Two long, sharp canines glowed eerily, and she sunk them deep into Priscilla’s neck.
“What the—?!”
As Lester stood stunned, the Gravisheath glowed brightly in Irene’s hand, like it was throbbing with joy.
Irene released her bite and softly exhaled. Blood trickled down to stain Priscilla’s chest, but stopped before long. The small bite wounds on her neck closed as Lester watched.
“See, the Gravisheath demands blood as the cost for its powers. It’s not exactly fuel-efficient, so it would drain you bone-dry in no time, normally. That’s why it transforms the body of the user to take the cost from an outside source. A real scary Orga Lux, don’t ya think?” With a chuckle, Irene readied the scythe. “But I’m told the transformation only occurs if you have a pretty high compatibility rating.”
“I see… So you’re literally a vampire.” Lester couldn’t hide the shock on his face, but he could not retreat, either. He held up the Bardiche-Leo and focused his prana, intending to launch a Meteor Arts counterattack.
“Okay, then. Here goes!” Irene swung the Gravisheath, and deep-purple spheres appeared. There were three, about an armful in size, floating in the air around Irene. “Go—Tres Fanega!”
The spheres rushed at Lester.
As he tried to dodge them, he was astonished to find he could barely move. His body felt as heavy as if he’d been tied down with lead weights.
“I went ahead and made the gravity a little stronger on you. Oh, and the area of effect is the entire stage. There’s no getting away.”
“Ngh!” Lester barely dodged the first sphere but had to receive the second and the third with the Bardiche-Leo.
And as he did, the spheres shrunk down, swallowing the Bardiche-Leo with them, and burst into nothing.
Irene laughed. “If you want to block my gravity spheres, you gotta at least bring an Orga Lux.”
“Dammit!” He had no chance fighting her unarmed.
The moment he reached for the backup Lux at his waist, he felt the downward pull increase.
Bellowing in pain, he was dragged to the ground, and his body creaked against a gravitational field so strong it seemed he would break through the arena floor.
“So, you wanna keep going, Ax of the Roaring Distance?”
Lester felt the blade of the Gravisheath come to rest against his neck. He couldn’t even get any words out, but he glared at Irene with clenched teeth.
He wanted to at least land one blow. But those eyes staring down at him turned his blood cold.
They were glinting with an icy light—something inhuman.
If he were to resist now, Irene would not hesitate to reap his head with that scythe.
Of course, doing so would result in her immediate disqualification. But the savagery he saw told him she didn’t care.
Letting out a heavy breath, he muttered, “All right. You win.”
“End of battle! Winners—Irene Urzaiz and Priscilla Urzaiz!”
At the automated announcement, Lester ground his molars.
CHAPTER 5
THE SISTERS FROM LE WOLFE
In the Sirius Dome, on the seventh day of the Phoenix—
“End of battle! Winner: Ayato Amagiri and Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld!”
As Ayato and Julis both put away their weapons, cheering engulfed the arena.
“Wow, are these two strong! After dominating Rounds One and Two, Team Amagiri-Riessfeld has advanced to the main tournament from Block C!”
“Another landslide victory today. Can’t wait to see what they’ll show us in the main tournament”
Their opponents for the third round were from Jie Long. Ayato and Julis took on one student each and finished off their individual opponents almost simultaneously.
Although the fight did not go as smoothly as the first and second rounds, their win was still a complete victory.
“Well, we got through the preliminary matches,” Ayato said with a sigh.
“Yes, so far so good. But the real fight is up ahead,” Julis said.
Because the bracket prevented tournament favorites from facing one another in the preliminaries, it actually wasn’t too difficult for those teams to reach the main rounds.
However, starting with the fourth round, the high-ranked teams would go head-to-head. The competition was about to get much more fierce.
“There don’t seem to be any surprises in this year’s tournament, so the top team from each school should make it to the main tournament. The rest is up to the bracket,” Julis said, looking serious, as they walked from the stage to the press conference room.
“Which is being announced tomorrow, right? I hope we don’t face Saya and Kirin right away.”
A new bracket would be drawn up for Round Four and beyond, but unlike the preliminary rounds, this one would be random.
They were scheduled for a complete day of rest tomorrow. The only Festa event would be the bracket lottery, to be drawn by representatives from each school.
“I agree about Sasamiya and Toudou. I wouldn’t want to face the Puppets from Allekant too soon, either. I want to learn as much as we can about them first.”
Saya and Kirin, as well as Ardy and Rimcy, had already advanced to the main tournament.
“I’d also rather not face the Jie Long twins or the knights from Gallardworth. And, well…then there’s Lamilexia.” Something grim made its way into her voice.
Irene and Priscilla, who had defeated Lester and Randy, had yet to fight in Round Three—but they were sure to advance to the main tournament.
“I never imagined she was that powerful,” Julis went on. “To be honest, I don’t think I stand a chance against her one-on-one. What about you?”
“Hmm. In a pure close-range fight, maybe.”
A scythe was not a particularly good weapon to begin with. Its variety of attacks was limited, which made it easy to defend against. Irene seemed able to compensate for that shortcoming with her combat skills—or rather, her innate physical abilities. If it came down to a fight at close range, Ayato definitely had the advantage, given his superior technique.
Still, since the scythe was also an Orga Lux, there was no telling just how effective the Ser Veresta would be
. To win, he would have to do more than wave a sword around.
“As far as I can tell from the data, the effects of the Gravisheath’s power differ from user to user,” Julis said. “I don’t think she’d be able to do anything drastic at close range, but…”
Which was to say, the high gravitational field would crush Irene, too, if she stepped into it.
The Gravisheath itself, however, seemed immune to its own powers. She could probably use it to attack without making herself vulnerable.
“But the biggest concern is her sister,” Julis muttered as they continued down the hallway. “A regenerative, of all things.”
The term referred to a type of Dante or Strega who could heal their own wounds. Although not as rare as healers, who could cure the injuries of others, this ability was considered to be one of the most uncommon.
“Regeneratives can have just about any type of supportive power, but she seems to be extraordinary. If she can not only heal injuries but also restore lost blood, that would place her in the top tier. She can probably even regenerate lost body parts. Talk about an ace in the hole.”
Those with special powers were required by law to register with their countries, and that information was shared and publicized worldwide. However, there were some countries whose governments, for any number of reasons, could not properly collect or disseminate the data. Irene and Priscilla were from such a country.
“So that’s how she deals with the disadvantage of the Gravisheath’s high energy cost… Really, I don’t know whether to be appalled or impressed.”
In any case, this meant that the most significant weakness of the Gravisheath did not apply to Irene.
“No matter,” Julis said curtly. “There’s nothing we can do until the bracket is announced tomorrow. Oh, speaking of which—Do you have any plans tomorrow?”
“I was thinking of going to watch the lottery in person…”
“How very touristy of you.”
Tomorrow was their day off, so they had no training planned. Claudia, who was participating in the drawing, had invited Ayato to come along.
“What about you, Julis?”
“A lot of chores from home have been piling up. I was going to spend the day making some calls and taking care of paperwork,” she replied, utterly unenthused, before she abruptly stopped walking.