Chapter 266: A Match of Equals with an Enormous Gap!
Shizuku and Touka were both B-rank mage knights.
In truth, that rank should have been the highest level an ordinary student knight could normally reach.
Most of the winners of past Seven Stars Sword Art Festivals had also been at this rank. There had even been a small number of Seven Stars Sword Kings who were C-rank knights.
However, although they were both B-rank mage knights, both Shizuku and Touka had A-rank attributes among their ability values.
For Shizuku, it was magic control.
As for Touka, it was attack power and physical strength.
Judging from ability values alone, Touka's advantage was enormous.
But after the battle actually began, the fight between the two of them maintained a state of "evenly matched."
Lightning slashes collided with flying icicles and water bullets. The two girls launched a fierce offensive and defensive battle while separated by some distance!
"Shizuku… is amazing!"
"She can actually fight evenly with that amazing student council president. But they've been fighting a long-range magic battle the whole time."
"Shizuku has been following Luke and Ikki for a while now, right? The student council president is also a swordsman, so I thought the fight between them would be a close-range battle."
Stella looked at the situation in the arena and felt somewhat happy.
Since she had a very good relationship with Shizuku, of course she hoped Shizuku could win.
If one wanted to become a representative and participate in the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, unless there were special circumstances, one had to win every single match.
As long as one lost a single match, they would basically have no connection with the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival.
"Of course it would be a long-range magic battle. After all, compared to Todo-senpai, Shizuku is weaker in close combat by more than just one level."
Stella's optimism did not last long before Luke broke it.
"For Shizuku, the best way to win is to seal off 'Raikiri.'"
Hearing Luke say this, Ikki beside him also nodded in agreement and said,
"Yeah. Todo-senpai's Noble Art leaves an impression that is far too deep. So much so that even her title directly uses that name."
The Noble Art "Raikiri" was an ultra-electromagnetic sword-drawing technique in which Touka used her ability to manipulate lightning to generate an extremely powerful magnetic field between the scabbard and the blade, then fired the blade out of the sheath.
"Up until now, in every official match where Todo-senpai has used 'Raikiri,' without exception, all of them ended in her victory."
However, Ikki's explanation made Stella puzzled.
She looked at Ikki, then looked at Luke, then asked in confusion,
"But senpai was in the top four last year, right?"
"That means there should have been at least two knights who beat her. They should have successfully broken through 'Raikiri,' shouldn't they?"
"No, they didn't break through it."
The one who explained was Luke.
Because the original work had not described this matter in too much detail, Luke had specially gone to learn about it.
"The person who defeated Todo-senpai last year was the champion of the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival."
"In other words, the current Seven Stars Sword King, Moroboshi Yuudai."
"He defeated Todo-senpai with the help of his spear-shaped Device, as well as that ability of his that can devour magic power and could be called the natural enemy of Blazers."
"After all of her magic-based attack methods were neutralized, Todo-senpai was pinned outside her attack range."
"Until the match ended, she never found a chance to use 'Raikiri.'"
At this point, Luke paused. After waiting for Stella to digest this part of the information a little, he continued speaking.
"As for why she ultimately placed in the top four, it was because when competing for third and fourth place, Todo-senpai had an urgent matter and couldn't participate in the match. In the end, her opponent was judged to have won by default."
…
While Luke and the others were speaking, the situation in the arena gradually began to change.
Touka, who had originally been gradually gaining the advantage in the exchange of attacks, suddenly had both legs frozen.
Before she, who was restrained in place, could react, a shadow covered the entire arena.
Whoosh—!
A huge cylindrical icicle descended from the sky and smashed fiercely toward the student council president's head.
If she took this blow, even if she would not be directly defeated because of it, she would still be injured and her combat performance would be affected.
At that time, when the battle resumed again, it would no longer be "evenly matched."
However, things were not as simple as Shizuku imagined.
Whoosh—!
Lightning flashed!
Boom—!
Along with one sword-drawing slash from Touka, the enormous pillar of ice was blasted into fragments almost instantly.
Tiny crystals scattered through the air, while Touka, standing on the ground, was completely unharmed.
For a moment, the scene returned once again to an "evenly matched" standoff.
"Shizuku is pretty good, huh."
Looking at Shizuku, who could contend with Touka, Stella could not help sighing with emotion.
The other party was the number one of Hagun Academy.
To be able to stand evenly against such an opponent, didn't that mean her strength could already be compared to the monsters standing at the top of the Seven Stars?
"If things go smoothly, maybe Shizuku really can win…"
"That's impossible. At this point, Shizuku has already more or less lost."
Luke shook his head and interrupted Stella's words.
Luke had actually also thought about whether Shizuku, who was stronger than in the original work, would bring any changes to this match.
But judging from the current situation, although there were indeed some differences, the overall direction still had not changed.
The gap in strength between the two of them was simply too large. So large that it was not something a period of training could make up for.
Touka had an overwhelming advantage over Shizuku at close range.
If Shizuku wanted to win this match, close combat was absolutely impossible. Her only choice was long range.
"The moment she fought Todo-senpai to a draw at long range, the outcome of this match was already decided."
"Even if it becomes a battle of attrition, there probably won't be much of a turning point."
"Shizuku's magic capacity is C-rank, and her physical strength is E-rank. Even if her physical strength has improved because of training together with us, at most, it probably won't exceed C-rank."
"As for Todo-senpai, her magic capacity is B-rank, and her physical strength is A-rank."
"If you insist on saying there is a chance of victory, then it can only be if Shizuku holds on until Todo-senpai makes a mistake."
"As for whether that mistake will happen…"
There was no need to say the rest. Even if Stella was optimistic, she would not think that a fighter who had reached the level of the top four in last year's Seven Stars Sword Art Festival would make a mistake in battle.
Looking at Stella, whose mood was somewhat low but who was still staring at Shizuku, as well as Ikki, who was watching the match with a solemn expression, and Arisuin with a worried expression, Luke silently sighed.
He knew what Stella and the others were thinking.
Believing in one's friends, not giving up hope, and persevering until the end—these were all extremely excellent qualities.
So Luke did not speak again to bring their mood further down.
When he had once watched the anime, it had not been very obvious. But now that he had personally seen it, Luke understood.
Until just now, Touka had not been serious at all.
She was learning.
Shizuku was very excellent. If Luke, the exception, was not counted, then she was the only Blazer in Hagun Academy whose magic control had reached A-rank.
Even in the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, there were not many people who could accomplish this.
One had to know that among the various ability evaluations of mage knights, there were two abilities whose weight was higher than the others.
One was undoubtedly magic capacity, while the other was magic control.
Excluding the item of luck, which he did not know why it existed, among the other five ability values, only magic capacity could not be improved through ordinary methods.
But compared to attack power, defense power, physical strength, and the like, magic control could also be treated as an attribute that could not be improved in many cases as well.
Because it required talent very much.
As long as one trained well and with enough time, anyone could raise their physical strength to A-rank.
As long as the ability one had as a Blazer was not trash, then during the process of developing that ability, attack power and defense power would naturally improve as well.
But magic control was different. Someone without talent in this area might not improve even if they worked hard for their entire life.
Opportunities to fight someone like Shizuku, who possessed super-first-class magic control, were not common.
This kind of experience was extremely precious.
Therefore, Touka deliberately did not press her attack deeply, fulfilling Shizuku's desire to decide victory and fight long range.
She did this precisely to absorb experience and lessons from it, turning them into strength for her future.
Otherwise, based on the way she had lost to Moroboshi Yuudai last year, how could this year's Touka possibly not have made preparations in this area?
"However, it should be about time."
(PS: Vote for more chapters this week. If this fanfic reaches 100 powerstones, I will upload 5 more chapters next. So, hurry up!)
---
Read more than 20 chapters in advance, with pictures, to enhance your reading immersion:
patréon.com/tom22
Replace "é" with "e" on your web browser.
---
For Audiobook:
youtube.com/@animefic22