by Yuu Miyazaki
“Saya!”
“…On it.”
As soon as Ayato gave the signal, Saya—who had been fighting from a distance—swiftly closed in.
“Oh?”
Although Saya was proficient in close-range combat, she was far from a match for Haruka. Attacking in tandem with Ayato, however, was a different story. Plus, gunfire from close range was naturally harder to dodge.
The younger pair reversed roles so Ayato would provide cover for Saya as he waited for the gunfire to create an opening in Haruka’s defense. That was their plan.
“Oh—now, this isn’t bad…!”
Haruka sounded impressed as she defended against the fierce offensive. Gradually, Ayato and Saya gained the advantage. Their intricate teamwork was improvised rather than planned, but their perfect synchronization gave Haruka no chance to regain her ground.
“I’m getting jealous…,” Haruka murmured.
And with that, her fighting completely transformed.
Before, her sword had only moved to deflect, but now it attacked with finely honed skill. She had decided that she could not stay on the defensive.
Here comes the real fight! Ayato focused and readied himself for Haruka’s attacks.
Now that she had turned her attention to offense, her movements were extraordinarily sharp. One misstep and the match would be over instantly. It also presented Ayato and Saya with an opportunity—if Haruka was on offense, she would leave more openings in her defense.
If we can just hold on here…!
Just as determination welled in him anew, a lightning-fast strike deflected his sword upward and nearly knocked it from his grasp.
“Nngh!”
He winced, barely managing to keep hold of it, and his hands tingled from the blow.
Haruka’s sword continued into an arc through the air that struck the pistol from Saya’s right hand.
“Ayato—!”
Saya’s eyes met his.
Understanding her instantly, Ayato tightened his grip.
In the next moment, a round from the gun remaining in her left hand—not at Haruka, but at the ground beneath her.
“Huh?!”
Ayato heard Haruka’s surprised cry from behind the rising cloud of dust. Seizing his chance, he shouted and swept his sword once horizontally. “Yaaah!”
The timing of their combination attack could not have been better.
But Ayato’s strike, dealt with the assurance of victory, stopped short with a firm and heavy impact.
“?!”
“Wow—you scared me a bit.”
As the dust cleared, he could see Haruka’s self-deprecating smile.
Her wooden blade had blocked him in the nick of time.
“Ugh…!”
Even as their hearts sank, Ayato and Saya quickly distanced themselves from Haruka to regroup.
Even that didn’t work…?! Ayato ground his teeth in frustration. But his sister was clearly impressed.
“Whew… That was amazing, both of you. To be honest, I didn’t think you’d be this good.”
Despite himself, Ayato was glad to hear his sister’s praise—but her next words erased that from his mind.
“I guess this means I’d be insulting you if I didn’t fight at full strength.”
“Your…full strength?”
Ayato had never even seen Haruka fight at full strength, let alone faced her himself.
Haruka lowered her sword and took a few deep breaths. She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again.
The air, already taut, was nearly palpable. Ayato felt like he was balanced on the edge of a razor. At the same time, Haruka’s prana was surprisingly quiet and clear.
But…that was all.
Her weapon dangled at her side, leaving her practically defenseless. She was open to any attack at all.
“Saya…” Ayato glanced at her, and she gave a small nod in reply.
It could be a trap, but there was nothing to be gained by thinking and waiting. They had to make the first move.
They placed her between them as they had in the beginning, and slowly closed in.
There would be no tricks. They would decide the match in a single clash.
“Haah!” In front of Haruka, Ayato brought his sword down at an angle.
The same instant, Saya fired at close range behind Haruka.
Just then—
Haruka’s wooden weapon moved slowly, almost drifting.
She neither blocked nor evaded, but invited it with a step back.
As she did so, she twisted, and the attack passed her without slowing. The point of his sword met the muzzle of Saya’s pistol, about to fire.
“What—?!”
“…Huh?”
The cries of surprise came just as Saya’s pistol exploded.
Even though it was a Lux for self-defense with low output, the blast from the jam was fairly powerful.
“Augh!” Ayato sailed backward to land on his behind, and the tip of Haruka’s sword stopped an inch from his eyes.
“…”
He stared in shock for several moments, then he pulled himself together enough to ask the question on his mind. “What was that…?”
“One of the master techniques of the Amagiri Shinmei Style—the Reverse Rakshasa,” Haruka replied with a bright smile. “It draws in attacks from multiple enemies so that they eliminate each other.”
“A master technique…”
Ayato had only learned up to the middle techniques. The master techniques were one level higher.
“I heard you can only use master techniques if you push your senses to their limits,” Ayato remarked.
“Well…something like that. I’m not really supposed to say,” Haruka said. She put away her sword and held out her hand to her brother. “Your teamwork was amazing; I mean it. But my senses were broader than yours.”
Once Ayato was on his feet, Haruka helped Saya up as well.
“…Broader?”
Seeing that Saya was confused, Haruka gave it a little thought and tried again. “For instance…in a fight, you pay attention to your opponent’s breathing, expressions, and little movements, right?”
“…Right.” Saya nodded.
“The more information like that you have, the better you can respond to whatever your opponent does. Expanding your attention beyond your opponent to the surrounding space—that’s the level of the master techniques. In the Amagiri Shinmei Style, we call that state shiki—‘consciousness.’”
For Ayato and Saya, this explanation was at the same time clear and enigmatic.
One thing was certain—they had lost. In their disappointment, they understood that perfectly.
“This applies to more than fighting, though. When our focus narrows, we tend to get stuck. And when that happens, I think it helps to look at all sorts of things in different ways… But maybe you two are still a little young for all that.”
Haruka smiled gently and patted the children on their heads.
“We never did beat Haruka,” Saya said, slumping her shoulders.
“She really was strong…even though she was always so laid back,” Ayato replied.
“Well, you’re no different, Ayato,” Saya muttered. “What about after I moved away?”
“More of the same. I couldn’t beat her, not even once.” Ayato sighed helplessly with upturned palms.
Only a year after Saya moved away, his sister had vanished. In that one year, he thought he’d improved a lot—but he’d still been no match for her.
“…I see,” Saya said curtly, then hopped off the bed. She walked to the window and turned around. “All the more reason to find her and challenge her to a rematch. Me and you.”
Her challenge surprised him a bit—and then he smiled. “Yeah, we have to. Although we probably still can’t beat her.”
“…Then we’ll work together. Like we did back then. So, Ayato…”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t try to handle your troubles on your own. I’m
not the only one who will help you out, you know… Though I hate to admit it,” Saya added, pouting for some reason. With that, she hopped out the window and vanished.
Ayato saw her off with a resigned smile and quietly closed the window.
Sunset had just begun painting the sky red.
CHAPTER 6
THE SECOND KEY
“You’re looking a little better,” Julis said upon seeing Ayato enter the prep room.
It was the day of the quarterfinals.
“Thanks to you,” he replied.
“So you’ve made up your mind?” She observed him carefully.
Ayato nodded deliberately. “Yes, I have. I’m going to find my sister. And the fastest way to do that is to get the integrated enterprise foundation to help.”
“I see.” Julis smiled, glad to hear his resolve, but it quickly disappeared as she opened an air-window. “Then we have to start by winning today.”
The window displayed a boy and a girl who looked remarkably alike—the Li twins, their opponents in just a few hours.
“I found two patterns from their past matches,” Julis explained. “The first is that these twins exclusively attack their enemy’s weak points—they adopt whatever tactics will frustrate their opponents the most. Of course, that’s generally a good strategy… But I think strategy is secondary for them.”
“Secondary? You mean there’s something else more important that they do?” Ayato asked.
“Probably. From what I’ve seen, they care about toying with their opponents more than fighting.”
“Toying with them…”
Ayato had noticed this as well. The twins seemed to go out of their way to inflict suffering.
“Even victory is probably low on their priority list,” Julis went on. “Essentially, they’re sadists drunk on power.”
“Not the kind of people I’d want to hang out with.”
“I completely agree. And the other pattern: These two never take risks. They give themselves an unbeatable advantage and go on the offensive only after they’ve established their own safety. A charitable way of putting it would be that they’re careful. All I can see, though, is a pair of despicable cowards afraid of putting themselves in harm’s way.”
He could hear the disgust in her voice. To someone of her character and principles, the twins must be entirely anathema.
“Still, the fact that they’re skilled fighters is undeniable,” she said. “On top of that, they’re terribly proficient strategists. Their real strength isn’t their Seisenjutsu, but rather their teamwork and ability to formulate effective plans.”
“Song and Luo said something like that,” Ayato recalled.
“Yes, and I think they were right. If it comes to a battle of wits, I don’t stand a chance against the twins,” Julis admitted candidly.
Her strategies sometimes caught her opponents off guard, but she would never maliciously entrap anyone. That was simply a natural consequence of her personality, so she couldn’t help that the twins surpassed her there.
“But for this match, we do have one advantage,” Julis said with a conspiratorial smile.
“An advantage?”
“Yes. If the twins’ M.O. is to go after their opponents’ weak points, nothing could be more predictable.”
“Oh!” Ayato clapped in realization. “My seal.”
“Right. To be precise, they’ll try to take advantage of the time limit. They couldn’t hope for a better weakness. So, we know what approach they’ll take.”
“Stalling.”
Julis nodded. “We can be sure of that. So now the question is, what do we do about it? Ideally, we attack fast and bring them down. If we can take one of them down, that would all but decide the match.” She shrugged at this. “But that’s easier said than done. And it’s exactly what the twins will plan for. They’ll be ready for it.”
“Probably,” Ayato said.
Prepping for battle involved predicting the other side’s strategy as well. Against an opponent with a time limit, a fast offensive would be the first thing to expect. It was inconceivable that the twins wouldn’t have a countermeasure.
“So, what we could do…” Julis lowered her voice to explain her plan.
“I see,” Ayato said slowly.
“Not bad, is it? Although, to be honest, it was the only thing I could come up with.”
“No, I couldn’t do any better. Let’s go with that.”
Ayato played out the scenario in his head and liked the results. The only difficulty was the timing at the end, but then again, that was usually the case.
“Good, then we’re agreed,” Julis said, relieved. “So, let’s hammer out the details.”
“This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for! It’s time for the quarterfinal match here at the Sirius Dome! Out of the east gate, here come Ayato Amagiri and Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld of Seidoukan! And on the other side, from the west gate, we have Shenyun Li and Shenhua Li of Jie Long Seventh Institute!”
“It’s Seidoukan against Jie Long, just like in the fifth round, huh.”
“Right you are! We should note that the matches in the other arenas are over—which means three of the four spots for the semifinals have been decided! Who will it be?! Which team will earn the last one?!”
Amid deafening cheers and the echoing voices of the announcers—
with the volume nearly at maximum, to compete with the crowd—Ayato and Julis slowly took the stage.
“Everyone sounds pretty hyped,” Ayato remarked.
“We’re almost to the finals of the Phoenix. The energy must be getting to the fans, too,” Julis said without much feeling. With her hand on her hip, she gave Ayato a sidelong stare. “Anyway, Sasamiya and Toudou advanced. We can’t afford to trip up here.”
Just as the announcer had mentioned, the other quarterfinal matches were over, with Saya and Kirin advancing easily to the semifinals. Ayato and Julis had watched the bouts in the prep room. All had gone as expected.
The contestants for the semifinals thus far were Saya and Kirin from Seidoukan Academy, a pair of knights from St. Gallardworth Academy—and the automatons from Allekant Académie, Ardy and Rimcy.
“I know,” Ayato replied, clutching the Ser Veresta’s activator. “I’m ready.”
That’s right. We can’t afford to trip up here!
“Good, I’m glad to hear it. But don’t put too much pressure on yourself.” Julis looked at him dubiously, then turned her gaze forward.
The twins from Jie Long approached.
“Nice to meet you, Glühen Rose, Murakumo. I’m Shenyun Li.”
“And I’m Shenhua Li. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
The twins greeted them with thin smiles.
Ayato marveled at how alike they looked up close. The loose-fitting Jie Long uniforms hid the contours of their bodies, leaving almost nothing to distinguish them except for the buns in Shenhua’s hair.
“And what do you want?” Julis asked curtly, not bothering to hide her suspicion.
“Well, we thought we should apologize.”
“Apologize?”
“Yes, for the pathetic showing of our peers the other day—”
“—which was shameful for us, as pupils of the same master.”
Shenhua smoothly picked up the rest of Shenyun’s sentence without a moment’s pause.
“Peers—you mean, Song and Luo?” Julis asked.
“I didn’t think they were pathetic at all…,” Ayato said to the twins.
Shenyun shrugged dramatically. “Well, we can’t have you thinking that’s a standard performance from the pupils of the Ban’yuu Tenra.”
“So, we’ll show you a world those two could not—”
“—the depths of Seisenjutsu.”
The pair took turns continuing each other’s sentences, then erupted into contemptuous laughter.
“Is that right? We can’t wait.” With that, Julis looked away, signaling she had nothing more to say.
/> At that, the Jie Long team turned on their heels and returned to their side of the stage.
“Hmph. An obvious taunt,” Julis sneered openly after them. “They’re just as unpleasant as I imagined.”
“But seeing them in person, I know for sure we can’t let our guard down,” Ayato said.
Song and Luo had approached them before the match began, too, but their reason for doing so was the polar opposite.
For the twins, that conversation was part of their strategy.
“Whatever,” Julis said. “We’ll just do what we have to.”
“Right,” Ayato replied. “Okay, here goes…”
He heightened his prana. Strength bubbled up from the depths of his body, and the chains binding him strained and creaked.
“By the sword within me, I break free of this prison of stars and unchain my power!”
The rising pressure flung off his bonds in an eruption of prana.
“Whoa, there it is! Amagiri’s fancy opening! —Or maybe it’s not really just for show, Ms. Tram?”
“We can’t say for sure, because the team won’t tell us, but the majority view seems to be that it’s some kind of procedure to undo the constraints on his power, so. Judging from how they fought in Round Five, he seems to need some time before he can release that power again… Now, I think Amagiri’s a top-rate fighter. But considering these limitations, maybe his team’s victories were much more hard-won than they’ve let on.”
“I see, I see! Oh, and now it’s time to start the battle! Which team will receive Victory’s blessing?!”
The commentator’s analysis was really spot-on, Ayato reflected. Stifling a cynical chuckle, he activated the Ser Veresta.
He focused his breath and his mind.
“Phoenix Quarterfinals, Match Four—Begin!”
As soon as the announcement sounded, Ayato closed in on Shenhua and sliced diagonally at her with the Ser Veresta. The quick strike was impeccably timed. But, apparently expecting this, Shenhua sprang backward to evade it. “Nngh!”
“Ha-ha, so you are fast!” Shenhua laughed. “But not so fast that I can’t dodge it when I know it’s coming!”
Fighting Irene had been the same. Ayato’s speed was not enough to grant him an insurmountable advantage.
