On one side stood the Crimson Princess, an unprecedented genius and the only student ever to enroll as an A-Rank Blazer.
On the other was Raikiri, a powerhouse who reached the semi-finals of last year's Seven Stars Sword Art Festival and was hailed as the strongest Student Council President.
The moment they summoned their Devices, both fighters launched their attacks.
"Dragon Breath!"
From a distance, Stella raised her greatsword, Lævateinn, and aimed it forward.
In the next moment, a surging sea of flames erupted from the blade, transforming into a fiery blast.
The intense heat and rampaging magic tore apart the ground over a wide area.
Seeing this, Tohka Todo removed her glasses and tossed them to the edge of the arena, where Renren Tomaru caught them with precision.
Her Device was a katana, sheathed in a pristine white scabbard.
The moment her glasses came off, her gaze sharpened.
A flash of lightning comes out and her figure vanished from the spot.
By stimulating her muscles with lightning to enhance her physical abilities and unleashing a burst of magic power for speed, combined with the Trackless Step footwork inherited from the Fighting God, Torajiro Nango, her movements were refined without a single wasted motion.
In response, Stella swung her greatsword.
The flames curved, following the arc of her blade as it pursued Tohka's fleeting form.
Tohka's draw was invisible to the eye.
Two lightning strikes slammed into the flames. For a brief moment, the inferno's advance was halted.
Seizing the opportunity, Tohka retreated, escaping the attack range.
"So fast... As expected."
'But this level of speed is still within my predictions!'
Stella erupted in a towering inferno, sweeping the flames across a wide area as she swung her sword.
This extravagant expenditure of magic power temporarily kept Tohka from closing the distance.
Anyone who had heard her title, Raikiri, knew it was the name of Tohka's Noble Art: an electromagnetic quickdraw technique.
As a lightning-attribute Blazer, Tohka applied her abilities to her Device, Narukami.
She generated a powerful magnetic field between the scabbard and the blade, launching the weapon from its sheath.
Any enemy who entered her attack range was defeated by that single strike.
This was why she possessed the strongest attack power at close range.
Facing Stella's flames, which burned at 3,000 degrees Celsius, Tohka remained vigilant.
She knew that even the owner of the highest magic capacity in history couldn't sustain this level of output indefinitely.
Her lightning-enhanced vision allowed her to sense the faint nerve impulses flowing through another person's body.
Since humans transmit signals from the brain to the muscles, she could use this ability to perform feats akin to mind-reading and precognition.
Feints and traps were meaningless against her.
By sensing electrical nerve impulses, she could tell if someone intended to deceive her.
She would never miss an opportunity. Long before an opening arose, her opponent's muscle twitches would already signal their intent.
Stella, wielding Lævateinn, paused her arms for less than half a second.
Yet, in that fleeting moment, Tohka seized the opportunity.
"Now!"
'Swift as lightning!'
Propelled by electromagnetic forces, the chestnut-haired girl shot across the ground like a low-flying fighter jet, piercing through the sea of flames.
With enough speed, even her weak defense could be concentrated into a single point of breakthrough.
Moving as fast as a bolt of lightning, Tohka appeared before Stella.
She had already sheathed her blade and now stood in a quickdraw stance.
'That stance!'
Stella's expression changed.
Until now, none of Tohka's opponents in the public tournament had lasted long enough for her to use Raikiri.
She was a Blazer who perfectly combined swordsmanship and magical abilities.
All her previous opponents had been defeated by her swordsmanship alone, never earning the right to witness her Noble Art.
But Stella had seen this stance before in video recordings.
The impression had been so profound that now, experiencing it firsthand and feeling the heavy pressure, the girl was stunned.
'What an incredible focus!'
Even though the blade hadn't left its sheath, she could already feel a deadly chill.
Stella unleashed the full power of her Empress Dress, releasing all her magic power without reservation.
The crimson flames woven into her ornate dress solidified into a tangible form.
"Raikiri—!"
Tohka drew her blade.
The slash was completed in an instant.
In a moment briefer than a lightning strike, Stella's magical defense was torn apart and her body was struck by the katana, Narukami, in its phantom form!
"Ugh—"
Stella let out a soft groan. Her vision blurred, and the strength drained from her body.
She collapsed into the boy's arms.
Noah glanced at the unconscious princess frowning in his embrace, then gently brushed a strand of her hair aside.
Clearly, Stella had lost.
But this was to be expected.
Among all the opponents Stella had faced so far, none were like Tohka.
She was already weak against high-speed opponents, let alone one who possessed the most lethal close-range technique.
In this spar, Stella had lost due to a first-encounter kill.
If Tohka had no further hidden trump cards, Noah believed the two girls were evenly matched.
Each had a fifty percent chance of winning.
If Stella could maintain her advantage in magic power and distance, Tohka would struggle to get close to her.
Her defeat would only be a matter of time.
Ultimately, the battle came down to focus and concentration.
However, for Stella, an A-Rank Knight, the fact that she could only manage a 50/50 matchup against the Student Council President—despite having superior stats across the board—was unacceptable.
It wasn't that she denied her opponent's strength, but rather that she felt she was too weak.
There was no attribute disadvantage.
She possessed immense power yet couldn't unleash it.
She opened her eyes.
Stella gazed up at the tree canopy against the sky, a sense of mental comfort washing over her.
She felt a warmth enveloping her body and quickly realized she was being held by the boy.
"Eek! Noah?!"
Stella scrambled to sit up... but Noah gently pulled her back down.
Her ear pressed against his chest, she could hear the strong, steady beat of his heart.
"Are you frustrated?"
"Mmm."
"The President is strong, isn't she?"
"Mmm."
"But you can become even stronger, Stella. I guarantee it."
"Mmm!"
...
Since they only had the Training Camp Center for one day, Noah took on the cleaning duties.
This allowed Stella and the President to spend more time sparring.
Stella gradually found her rhythm, devising numerous tactics specifically for the President.
The number of times their spars ended in a draw steadily increased.
Noah, manipulating water and wind to create a vortex, transformed himself into a human floor-scrubber.
A single sweep through the Training Camp Center left everything sparkling clean.
Kanata Totokubara was the only one who stayed by his side to help as everyone else had rushed off to the training grounds.
He glanced at the girl beside him, whose attire revealed very little skin, and said.
"Thank you."
The Totokubara Family was one of Japan's top financial conglomerates.
As the young lady of the Totokubara Family and a Blazer, Kanata held the fearsome title of Scharlach Frau—the Crimson Lady.
During anti-terrorism missions, she was said to have single-handedly crippled numerous terrorists—a powerhouse whose actions belied her delicate appearance.
Her entire outfit was pure white: dress, boots, gloves, hat, and even her parasol.
Noah had only caught a fleeting glimpse of her on the bus.
Beneath her heavily concealing attire lay stunning beauty.
Her fair skin was as flawless as a pearl.
The ends of her long golden hair curled into spirals, giving her the distinct air of a well-bred young lady.
Yet she was the only one willing to help him clean.
"Thanks to Noah-kun's dedication, everyone was able to have so much fun. I have had enough fun myself, so I came to help our hero."
"You're exaggerating..."
"Hehe, maybe just 0.1%?"
She smiled gracefully, seeming quite relaxed.
In Noah's eyes, she was a mysterious figure.
No, her very attire made her seem unfathomable. From most angles, you couldn't even see her face clearly.
Literally, she was impossible to see through.
Beep beep.
A message arrived on his student handbook.
Noah took it out and opened the message in front of Kanata.
It was the match-up information for the selection tournament.
His next opponent was set.
He scanned through the information, scrolling to the bottom where the opponent's name was displayed.
Almost simultaneously, his gaze met the girl's beside him.
Kanata was also holding her phone, seemingly having just checked the message she'd received.
This was...
"Oh my, what a coincidence, Noah-kun. Your next opponent... is me."
The girl twirled the parasol in her hand, twisting her waist to look back at him over her shoulder, exuding the perfect image of a young maiden.
Hagun Academy, Year 3, Class 3. Student Council Treasurer, Kanata Totokubara.
A B-Rank Knight!
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator