Gakusen Toshi Asterisk - Volume 12 - Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 
PRELUDE 
“Heeey, Ayato!” 
The first day of the school fair was met with refreshing, clear weather. Beneath that cloudless sky, the plaza in front of the Sirius Dome was bustling with people, but fortunately, Ayato had no difficulty spotting his beaming, waving sister. 
Not wanting to stand out too much, he had partially disguised his appearance with a pair of fake glasses and a cap, as he usually did when he went out in public these days. Haruka, however, evidently had no difficulty recognizing him. 
“I knew it’d be busy, but this is something else. Maybe we should have picked a different place?” she commented. 
“Everywhere’s like this during the school fair. Anyway, how’s Dad?” Ayato asked. 
Haruka had returned to their father’s place in Shinshu for a month, only having come back to Asterisk the previous day. 
Even after she had been discharged from the hospital, the city guard still had some questions and so forth that they wanted to get out of the way. When, finally, she was free to do as she wished, she took the first opportunity available to return home to see their father, Masatsugu. 
“Yep, he’s good. He’s still as stubborn and sulky as ever…and to be honest, I think he’s got a few more gray hairs.” 
“Ha-ha-ha… I suppose we’ve both given him enough to worry about. You should have stayed for longer, though, after going all that way.” 
Although it might not have felt as if much time had passed for Haruka since she had last seen her father, to him, it had been their first reunion in ages. It wasn’t hard to imagine that he had, no doubt, wanted to spend more time with her. 
“I wanted to, but there’s so much to do. She was trying not to be pushy, but Helga wanted me to come back soon, too, so I really couldn’t afford to stay there too long.” 
The city guard might have finished questioning her and, indeed, sealed the case from public knowledge, but there was still every likelihood that Lamina Mortis had his sights on her. 
Given their past relationship, there was little doubting that Lamina Mortis was considerably attached to her. While he might have been reluctant to make another move against her life, he could try to recruit her once more. Helga’s real reason for wanting her to stay in Asterisk was no doubt to keep her close in order to protect her. 
Stjarnagarm, however, didn’t have the resources to dispatch officers to watch over her twenty-four seven while, at the same time, conducting an investigation in pursuit of a number of unknown, unnamed individuals. As a compromise, they had therefore agreed to enlist her, at least temporarily, to assist in their efforts. 
For that reason, just in case anything was to go wrong, they had given her a tracking device to keep tabs on her whereabouts. 
“Besides, I wanted to see the school fair myself, at least once,” she said with a faint smile as she watched the crowds with longing eyes. 
“…I see.” 
“On that note, why don’t you show me around today?” Haruka said, clapping him on the shoulder. 
“Right, leave it to me.” 
As it happened, Ayato had been shown around each of Asterisk’s six schools last year by Sylvia and so would have no trouble guiding Haruka this time around. 
At that moment, he suddenly realized something that he had only been subconsciously aware of. 
Right… Sylvia’s a lot like Haruka. Her mood, the way she acts… 
Of course, their builds and facial features were completely different. And while there were a lot of similarities in their personalities, there were plenty of differences, too. But their presences, and their ways of speaking, were, at times, remarkably alike. 
Perhaps that was why, he reflected, he had been able to become such fast friends with the world’s most popular songstress. 
“It makes sense to check out every corner of the city, seeing as I’m planning to join the city guard. It sounds like they can’t just walk into the school grounds, either, so this will be a good opportunity.” 
“About that, Haruka… Are you really serious about it?” Ayato asked as they began to make their way toward the nearby subway station. 
“Of course. Lamina Mortis is still working behind the scenes around here somewhere, and I’d like to repay everyone for looking out for me all this time. This way, I can kill two birds with one stone, right?” 
“I guess that’s true…” 
Speaking for himself, however, Ayato couldn’t say he approved of her decision. 
After all, he had only just been able to safely reunite with her, and now she was preparing to leap once more into harm’s way. 
“Well, technically, they don’t let people involved in an investigation join in on it, so I’ll just be doing whatever Helga asks me to.” 
“…That’s a shame.” 
Given that Stjarnagarm seemed to be perennially understaffed (they had even attempted to recruit Ayato at one point), someone with Haruka’s skills and abilities would undoubtedly be of great help to them. 
“All I have to do now is pass the recruitment exam.” 
“That’s coming up soon, right?” 
“Yep. So I had to keep studying even when I went home.” 
The fact that she was still being made to sit the recruitment exam only served to prove how serious Helga was about those she enlisted. 
The real reason the city guard was so understaffed was that most applicants failed to pass the recruitment process, either at the interview stage or the exam. Only those personally recognized as being of exceptional caliber by Helga were permitted to don the uniform of Stjarnagarm. 
“Hold on a second,” Ayato murmured as his mobile started ringing. 
He pulled it from his pocket, checking the name on the display, when— 
“…Magnum Opus!” His brow curled in suspicion, but he nonetheless moved into a shaded area by a nearby building and opened an air-window. 
“Kee-hee-hee-hee! Long time no see, Ayato Amagiri! How has your sister been since we woke her?” 
“I’m doing fine, thanks to you,” Haruka answered, pushing herself into the frame of the air-window. “Hilda, was it? Thanks for taking care of me back then,” she said, bowing her head. 
Regardless of the circumstances or her motivations for doing so, it was Hilda who had successfully woken her, so it was only reasonable to thank her. 
“Oh, so you’re together now? Well, in any case, you fulfilled your end of the bargain, so there’s no need to stand on ceremony.” 
Ayato doubted that Hilda was trying to be humble by saying that—she no doubt truly believed it. Judging by her way of speaking, she didn’t seem particularly interested in Haruka anymore. 
“So what do you want?” 
“Yes, let’s get straight to the point. We’re getting ready to resume our experiments with the mana accelerator, so I’m letting you know in advance, as promised.” 
What she meant, no doubt, was human experimentation. 
“I assume the subject gave their full and informed consent and understands all the risks involved?” 
“Kee-hee-hee-hee! Of course! They understand it completely, perfectly, without any room for doubt!” 
“…Can you prove that?” 
“Indeed, indeed! Of course I can! Only too easily! After all—the subject is me!” 
Ayato was left speechless. “Wha—?!” 
He had never suspected that she might subject herself to her own experiments. 
Her passion for that research of hers seemed to have descended into total madness. 
“How about it? I trust you don’t have any objections? Kee-hee-hee-hee! In that case, until next time!” Hilda cut off the transmission with a laugh. 
Ayato couldn’t say he was particularly happy with this turn of events, but it was true that he had no right to protest. 
But even so, he had a bad feeling about it. 
He couldn’t exactly pin that feeling down, but he knew enough about her research to know it spelled misfortune much more than it did progress. 
And if something were to happen in the course of it, there was no questioning the fact that he, too, would bear part of that responsibility. 
“…Ayato.” Haruka peered at him, her expression looking somehow apologetic. 
“Sorry. I guess I’m shouldering a lot of responsibilities right now.” 
“…That isn’t for you to worry about, Ayato.” 
Right. No matter what happened, he couldn’t regret the decisions that had brought his sister back to him. 
“Ah, look! If we don’t hurry, we won’t be able to make it to all of the schools. You wanted to go to Gallardworth first, right?” Ayato said, taking her by the hand and plunging once more into the crowd. 
She startled for a brief second, before tightening her grip on his hand, too. “…You really have grown,” she murmured, an indecipherable smile tinged with both happiness and regret rising to her lips. 
 
The school fair at Saint Gallardworth Academy reflected the formality and social rules of the school’s traditions. 
There were few stalls or stands around the grounds. In their place, areas such as the cafeteria had been especially set aside for the event, and other buildings were specifically set up to provide spaces for balls, theater productions, concerts, and other social and cultural gatherings. 
“Ooh…impressive,” Haruka cooed with admiration as she surveyed the central square. “I can see why they call this place Asterisk’s most prestigious school.” 
Ayato, who had had the same reaction last year, found himself grinning. 
The buildings were all designed to imitate early modern European architecture, and so, along with Jie Long’s Asian style, was among the most visually unique places in Asterisk. 
“Well… This is a surprise,” a voice came from behind Ayato’s back. 
“Ernest!” he exclaimed, turning around. 
“The last time we saw each other was at the Gryps, if I’m not mistaken. You look well, Ayato.” The blond youth shone Ayato a dazzling smile. “Although, I have to say, your disguise is somewhat lacking,” he added, resting his chin in one hand as he looked him over. 
“Sylvia said the same thing last year,” Ayato said with a laugh. “I’m surprised you can make your way through these crowds in one piece.” 
Ayato was well aware of Ernest’s popularity. 
“Come now, I think you’ll find that so long as you don’t draw attention to yourself, you’ll be fine.” 
Indeed, as Ernest said, while there were many people around them who stopped what they were doing when they noticed him, none of them called out to him directly. Perhaps that was thanks to his aura of confidence. 
“…Ernest, I’m going to buy something to drink.” 
“Ah. Thanks, Diana.” 
The woman who had spoken to Ernest gave Ayato and Haruka a slight bow in greeting before disappearing into the crowd. She looked to be around the same age as Ernest—a beauty with a neat and tidy appearance and a composed, short-cut hairstyle. 
“Ernest, is that…?” 
“…Yes, my childhood friend.” 
That was the full extent of Ernest’s response, but Ayato could tell from their brief exchange that they were more than that. 
“And this fine lady, I assume, is your sister?” 
“Pleased to meet you, Ernest. I’m Haruka Amagiri,” she said with a quick bow. “The championship match of the Gryps was amazing. The best part was when you cast the Lei-Glems aside toward the end.” 
“Ha-ha, that wasn’t a particularly praiseworthy moment, I’m afraid. My technique was rather unseemly…” 
“Not at all, it was much more interesting than your usual overly delicate style.” 
Ernest blinked in surprise at these comments, as if caught unawares. 
“It’s important to keep your savagery under control, but it also serves as the foundation for a good technique,” Haruka went on. “From what I saw, I think you’ve got the potential to become a wonderful sword master.” 
“…I think this is the first time anyone’s ever said something quite like that to me,” Ernest said with a bright smile much younger than his years. “So this is your teacher, Ayato? I can see why you’re so strong.” 
“Yes, I’m very proud of her,” Ayato said, somewhat embarrassed. 
“Well then, I should be going…” Ernest gave him a wry smile before turning to leave. “Ah, yes, Ayato,” he added with a meaningful glance over his shoulder. “You seem to have quite a bit on your mind. I’m no longer the student council president here, but as it happens, that gives me quite a bit more flexibility than I had before. So if you ever need anything, feel free to ask. I might not be capable of much, but I’ll help you out where I can.” 
“…Thank you.” 
The night before their championship match at the Gryps, Ernest had come to Ayato’s defense when he had been attacked by Lamina Mortis. Perhaps he was referring to that incident, Ayato wondered. But then again, as the former student council president, perhaps he possessed deeper knowledge than he let on. Gallardworth’s clandestine operations organization, Sinodomius, was renowned for their intelligence-gathering abilities, after all. 
“He seems like a nice person,” Haruka remarked. 
“Yeah. He used to be the student council president here. It’s pretty impressive that he can still act so noble despite having let go of the Lei-Glems.” 
Among fans of the Festa, his status as the fifth generation in a line of master swordsmen was no empty title. 
“Right,” Haruka said reproachfully as she put her hands on her hips. “The one who drew the least attention in that match was you, the wielder of the Ser Veresta. You still can’t properly control your prana, huh?” 
“Ugh…” Ayato had no defense against that criticism. 
“Well, if it’s a problem with your senses, practice alone won’t cut it. And I get that it’s more difficult for you given your high level of prana, but still… That’s it, come see me when you’ve got time, and I’ll show you a thing or two.” 
“All right. I’ve been trying to fix it by myself, but as you can see…” 
“Then it’s decided.” 
And with that, the two of them moved on to their next destination. 
Even at night, the commercial area during the school fair could hardly be rowdier, with the excitement of day carrying on long past the setting of the sun. Even small avenues two or three streets away from the main boulevard were still crowded with students and tourists alike who were making their way from one place to another. 
“Ah, that was awesome!” Haruka exclaimed as she stretched both arms into the air. 
“We only managed to make it to Gallardworth, Le Wolfe, and Allekant, though,” Ayato remarked. 
That said, even going to those three in one day was quite a feat. 
“If you’re free tomorrow, why don’t we check out the others, too?” he added. “We might even bump into Yuzuhi at Queenvale.” 
“Ah, I almost forgot. Yeah, I’d better say hi to her sometime.” 
Yuzuhi Renjouji, a member of Queenvale Academy for Young Ladies’ Team Kaguya, which had been widely viewed as a dark horse team at the previous Gryps, had long studied archery at one of the Amagiri Shinmei style’s branch schools and was a longtime friend to both Ayato and Haruka alike. 
“But I’m fine, really. I can find my own way. It wouldn’t be fair to the others for me to monopolize you for the whole school fair.” Haruka, a step ahead of him, laughed over her shoulder. 
By the others, she was probably talking about everyone in Team Enfield. 
“I don’t really have anything planned…” 
And for that matter, his four team members all seemed to be busy doing their own things. 
It might have been more than half a year away, but Julis was still training nonstop for the Lindvolus. 
Saya had practically shut herself away in her new development facilities in the harbor block ever since it opened at the beginning of the school year. She seemed to be perennially busy working on some kind of new Lux with her father, Souichi, and a handful of junior researchers. 
Claudia, for her part, was still swamped with work as Seidoukan’s student council president—but on top of that, she was deeply involved in their investigation into the Golden Bough Alliance, too, and so had even less free time than usual. 
And Kirin, ever since visiting her family at the beginning of the year, had been concentrating on basic training practically nonstop. 
“You know, you could try paying a bit more attention to them all.” 
“Huh?” 
“Did you even tell them about coming here with me?” 
“I did bring it up during lunch once, I think,” Ayato said, retracing his memories. 
Haruka narrowed her eyes, glaring back at him. “Good grief… Huh?” Before she could say anything more, she came to a sudden stop. 
“What is it, Haruka?” But at that moment, he felt it, too. 
Without him having realized it, the scenery around them had undergone a complete change. Where before the streets had been lined with more shops and restaurants than he could count, now they were surrounded by crumbling, abandoned buildings, and a desolate, deserted main street. They were in the redevelopment area. 
They might have been taking a short detour, but they should still have been heading toward the station. 
“I’ve sensed this feeling before. Right before that spat with Yabuki…” 
Just as now, back then he had found himself winding up in the redevelopment area completely unawares. 
At that time, Eishirou had used a secret concealment technique to interfere with his sense of direction. 
Not again… 
But then, in defiance of his expectations, a woman wearing what looked like a mechanical necklace stepped near them from behind a ruined building. 
“…Varda-Vaos!” Ayato shouted. He and Haruka both readied themselves, backing away from the approaching figure. “How are you able to use the Night Emit’s techniques…?” 
“My strengths lie in mental interference. Now that I know how it works, recreating the same effect is trivial,” she replied flatly. 
“I see, so you’re the Varda-Vaos,” Haruka called out. “I suppose we should greet each other properly?” 
“Indeed, this is our first time meeting in person. I was working behind the scenes back when we last had reason to encounter each other, in a different body.” 
But considering she was the only one who could have planted those fake recollections in Haruka’s memory, there was no doubting they must have come into direct contact at least once. Perhaps that was after Haruka had already placed her seal on herself, Ayato wondered. 
“What do you want with us?” Ayato asked as he carefully scanned his surroundings. 
Based on past experience, it was probably— 
“I’m the one who wanted to see you. It’s been a while, Ayato Amagiri.” 
—just as he had suspected: 
The figure emerging from the shadows behind Varda was none other than Lamina Mortis. 
“And…it really has been a long time. You look well, Haruka.” 
“…” 
In stark contrast to Mortis’s faint grin, Haruka’s expression could hardly be sterner. 
“Heh-heh, you’re a cold one, daughter mine. Well, never mind. I don’t have a lot of time, so let me get straight to the point.” He paused as he shifted his gaze. “I would very much appreciate it if you would enter the Lindvolus, Ayato.” 
“What…?” Ayato broke into a deep frown. 
Mortis, however, paid that little heed. “From what I hear, you’re trying to avoid entering. That would be such a waste. Now that you’ve finally broken free of the seal that your sister placed on you, you could become one of the greatest fighters in all of the Festa’s history. I would very much like for you to demonstrate that power to the world.” 
“…Why is that so important to you?” 
“No one has ever secured both three consecutive wins and a grand slam in the Festa,” Lamina Mortis continued, completely ignoring his question. “And there will probably never be another chance again. You are a living miracle, Ayato. It’s no exaggeration to say that this promises to be the most exciting Festa in history… So let me say it once more!” he proclaimed, raising his arms into the air dramatically. “You must enter the Lindvolus!” 

 

“That’s easy for you to say!” Ayato ground out. “But I’m not about to get in Julis’s way!” 
“Ah, you misunderstand.” Mortis shook his head. “This isn’t a request. Think of it as…a threat.” And with that, an Orga Lux appeared in his hand, the Raksha-Nada activating in front of him. 
“!” 
Ayato immediately reached for the Ser Veresta, with Haruka activating her own blade-type Lux not a second later. 
No sooner had she adopted a defensive stance, however, than her face writhed in agony, and she raised a hand to her chest. 
“Ngh…!” 
“Haruka!” 
It was the same kind of reaction that she had had while talking to him at the hospital. By the looks of it, she still wasn’t fully recovered. 
“I’m okay, Ayato. We’ve got bigger things to worry about…!” she declared as she got her breathing under control, fixing Lamina Mortis with a deadly glower. 
Ayato was worried about her condition, but she was right. They needed to find a way out of their present situation before they could think about anything else. 
“There’s no need to push yourself if your body still isn’t up to it, Haruka.” Mortis fixed Ayato with a placid grin before stabbing the Raksha-Nada into the ground. 
“You don’t need to worry about me…,” Haruka said to her brother before turning to their assailant and beginning to focus her energy. “In the end, all you’ve got going for you is brute force, huh? But if that’s how you want to do it, I’m happy to oblige!” 
Ayato, following her lead, lowered his body, raising the Ser Veresta up to eye level. “That’s right. We’ve got reason enough to fight you.” 
Lamina Mortis was strong. Having crossed swords with him once before, Ayato had tasted the depths of his power. But unlike their last encounter, he was now free from the seal that had been placed on him—and moreover, Haruka was standing alongside him. He didn’t intend to lose. 
“Heh, brute force, you say? There’s nothing wrong with that,” Lamina Mortis said, concentrating his own prana in turn. 
And then— 
Several magic circles appeared around the man, each linked to normally invisible chains stretching all the way to his body. There was no mistaking them: They were exactly the same as the seal that had bound Ayato—in other words, Haruka had sealed away his power, too. 
Now that he thought about it, Haruka had indeed said something along those lines: that when she fought him in the Eclipse, even though she lost, she had managed to seal away her opponent’s strength. 
In that case, the person that Ayato fought last time had been— 
“…Well then,” Lamina Mortis said calmly with a wave of his left hand. With that gesture, the chains that had been holding him burst into an explosion of light—before disappearing entirely. 
He had broken through the seal by force—just as Ayato often had with his own. 
And as he did so, something dreadful welled up from inside Lamina Mortis. 
“Hmm… It’s been a while since I’ve called on my full power like this,” he said as he let out a deep sigh, his voice filled with emotion. 
But, of course, if Ayato had been able to break through his seal, it only made sense that Lamina Mortis could do the same with his own. And similarly, if he didn’t release the restraints properly, he would no doubt be bound by a time limit and would suffer the side effects when that limit ran out. 
And yet— 
“Wh-what…?!” 
“…Don’t let him get to you, Ayato,” Haruka said, her face grim as sweat began to gather on her brow. 
Without having even realized it, Ayato had found himself overcome by an instinctive fear, not unlike what he had experienced when encountering Erenshkigal or the Ban’yuu Tenra. Helga had called both of them different and said they existed on a whole other plane. 
The same, it seemed, could be said about the man standing in front of them. 
If, that was, one took out that overwhelming aura of savagery, that ominous sense that he could devour anything, and then spit them out crushed. 
“Now, then! Show me the power that runs through your blood once more!” Lamina Mortis yelled, his voice ringing out as he rushed toward them. 

“Ngh!” 
Ayato managed to parry the Raksha-Nada with the Ser Veresta, but the force of the blow was enough to send him stumbling backward. 
It’s too heavy…! 
Given that his opponent had swung the Raksha-Nada with only one hand, Ayato could only imagine what would have happened if he had put his whole body into it. 
Lamina Mortis’s speed and strength were at a completely different level than their last encounter. 
“Argh!” 
There was a flash of light as Lamina Mortis followed through with a strike aimed at Haruka’s torso, but then he made a completely unexpected move, grabbing hold of her barehanded and hurling her backward. 
Ayato took advantage of that opening to pull away from their opponent and regain his footing at a distance, only giving Haruka a fleeting glance to check that she had landed safely. 
“Amagiri Shinmei Style, Hidden Technique—” 
With Lamina Mortis caught between the two of them, Ayato and Haruka synchronized their breathing before unleashing a simultaneous attack. 
“—Crescent Carnage!” 
But just before their strikes could reach him, Mortis seemed to shimmer in the air like a hot flame. 
“Ha-ha! Looks like you’re still wet behind the ears!” 
Their opponent hadn’t even broken a sweat. 
The Crescent Carnage essentially involved cutting down one’s opponent as one ran past them, but Lamina Mortis had managed to send them both flying with one wave of the Raksha-Nada. 
“How about this?” he cried out, unleashing a chain of consecutive attacks, each one unbelievably heavy, enough to almost send the Ser Veresta flying from Ayato’s hands. 
It took everything Ayato had just to hold his ground. 
“Looks like you’ve still got a long way to go! What’s the use in talking if you can’t even handle the Ser Veresta?” 
“What gives you the right to say that?!” Ayato, his anger seething, moved to counter—realizing only too late the mistake that he had just made. 
Now that he was within range, Lamina Mortis shifted his body, thrusting him out of the way as he made a strike at Haruka, who tried to attack him from behind. 
“Guh…!” 
She managed to parry his blade at the last moment, but the difference in their respective abilities was obvious. Haruka, no doubt realizing that for herself, leaped backward to put some distance between them at the first opportunity. 
Ayato fought to get himself under control, regaining his fighting stance and glaring balefully at Lamina Mortis. 
There was no form to his opponent’s swordsmanship. His stance, his movements, his timing were all unique, offense and defense flowing together with a flawless rhythm that Ayato was unable to predict. 
“Ayato, are you okay?” Haruka called out to him as she circled around her father. 
The fact that their opponent was giving them this opportunity to regroup was no doubt a sign of his absolute confidence in his own abilities. 
“Haruka, take this!” Ayato said, handing her his spare Lux. 
Haruka’s own Lux had been damaged in their last exchange. Sparks were flying from its manadite core, its blade wavering as if it might go out at any moment. By the looks of things, normal Luxes didn’t stand much of a chance against the Raksha-Nada. 
“Thanks,” she said in a low voice as she took Ayato’s spare in her hands. “This isn’t good. He’s much stronger now than he was the last time I fought him.” 
“…Where do you think it comes from, his strength?” Ayato whispered back to her. 
There was no mistaking that Lamina Mortis’s combat techniques were far superior to his and Haruka’s. Ayato had no idea how old their opponent was, but it was inevitable that he would have accumulated a lot of experience over those years. 
That didn’t mean, however, that he and Haruka were out of options. 
“Hmm, probably his prana,” Haruka responded under her breath. 
“His prana?” 
Ayato looked over their overly calm opponent with fresh eyes. Mortis undoubtedly excelled at controlling his prana, but in terms of quantity, it was still Ayato who had the advantage. 
“Not the amount. It’s different in quality,” Haruka continued. “This is only a guess, but I think his savagery is feeding into it. Compared with ours, his is much more compact, much denser.” 
“What?” 
Ayato had never heard anything like this before. 
In the first place, their opponent’s savage nature was ultimately nothing more than a mental attitude. Of course, that in itself could have an effect on one’s strength, but it shouldn’t have been able to change the quality of his prana. 
Stregas and Dantes might be able to control their abilities through willpower alone, but this… 
At that moment, he suddenly remembered something that Eishirou had told him a while back. 
“They say Stregas and Dantes make up just a few percent of Genestella, right? In reality, though, lots of people have a natural ability to link with mana but can’t express it as special powers—either because they’re too weak or because they can’t visualize what they want to do. According to some, more Genestella have that basic ability than not.” 
Prana was, after all, the source of a Genestella’s power. It could be used to increase the strength of one’s attacks, to raise one’s defense, and, depending on how it was used, even to boost one’s speed. 
On top of that, Mortis’s brand of viciousness was composed of an intrinsic desire to crush his foes, born of the most basic negative emotions such as anger and hatred. 
Assuming that this incredibly powerful savagery of his could indeed affect his prana, it wasn’t hard to imagine just how profound a change it would cause. 
Ayato could only wonder just what could lie at the heart of such intense emotions. 
“It’s time. Enough with the games, Lamina Mortis.” Varda, until now watching on in silence, stepped forward, her voice reproachful. 
“…I see.” Lamina Mortis gave a brief nod. “Indeed, it is. We had better move things along,” he said with a grin as he directed the Raksha-Nada toward Ayato. 
“Well then, wielder of the Ser Veresta. The Four Colored Runeswords each have unique abilities, but they are all similarly ineffective against their brethren. The Ser Veresta has the power to burn through all of creation; the Lei-Glems the power to make contact only with its intended target; the Wole-Zain the ability to cut through space at any specified coordinates… And I’m sure you know just what the Raksha-Nada is capable of?” 
Before Ayato’s eyes, the blade began to split into countless tiny shards, the pieces separating again into even smaller fragments, until Lamina Mortis was left holding nothing but an oversized hilt. 
Now, in place of its blade, what emerged in front of him resembled only a crimson mist. 
“…Haruka, get behind me.” 
“Right.” She wasted no time in doing as he had told her. 
They both, of course, knew about the Raksha-Nada. 
It was getting ready for a full-surface slash. 
“Arghhhhhhhhhh!” 
Ayato poured his prana into the Ser Veresta as Lamina Mortis swung the hilt of the Orga Lux forward with a tremendous roar. 
Ayato’s blade swelled to enormous proportions as he stabbed it into the ground. He crouched behind it like a shield. 
Not a moment later, he was swallowed in a cloud of red light as the innumerable fragments of the Raksha-Nada swept past him. 
“Oh? Well done. Perhaps you do know how to use the Ser Veresta.” Mortis’s voice was tinged with admiration. 
Ayato turned around. Haruka had crouched down, covering her face with her hands, but fortunately, she appeared to be unharmed. 
Farther behind them, though, the abandoned building that had been standing there until just a moment ago was now torn to shreds, having collapsed into a pile of rubble and dust. 
“How can it be this powerful…?” 
Ayato had, of course, read about the Raksha-Nada, but this was his first time seeing its abilities in action. The fact that it had seldom been put to actual use was, of course, partly due to the debilitating cost that the Orga Lux demanded, but it was also no doubt that the weapon’s sheer cruelty and destructive potential had played a part. Ayato may have been able to shield himself from the attack thanks to the Ser Veresta, but any other opponent would have been torn to shreds. It wasn’t difficult to imagine that any typical usage of the weapon would be a direct violation of the Stella Carta. 
“Haruka, stay close to me,” Ayato said as he retrieved the Ser Veresta—to no response. 
“Haruka…?” 
At that instant, a terrible, nauseating premonition welled up inside him. He spun back around, when— 
“U-ugh…!” Haruka’s face was a picture of agony as she fell to the ground, clutching at her chest. 
“Haruka!” Ayato took her in his arms at once, calling out to her, but she appeared to be unable to respond. “Haruka, hang in there!” 
He looked her over for injuries, but nothing stood out. There wasn’t even any sign of blood. 
“I told you, didn’t I? I came here to threaten you. Think of this as a demonstration,” Lamina Mortis said coldly. 
The crimson mist was once again gathering around the Orga Lux’s hilt. 
“Normally, when it’s broken down into small pieces like this, the shards of the Raksha-Nada can only be controlled as a whole…but I do have some room to freely move them. Like this.” 
One of the red shards began to move in the opposite direction from the others, emerging out from the cloud and expanding to the size of a fingernail. 
“What have you done to her?!” 
“Ha-ha, I haven’t done anything to her, at least not today. No, this is from our encounter at the Eclipse.” 
“!” 
The fragment returned to the cloud, which soon condensed back into a blade—or so Ayato thought, but another piece, around the size of a pinky finger, remained hovering above the palm of Lamina Mortis’s outstretched hand. 
“That day…after I cut her down…I had a fragment implanted inside her body, you see. Ah, you needn’t worry about her life. That isn’t in danger—so long as I don’t move it.” He paused there, pinching the remaining fragment with his fingers. 
“Aaaaaaaaaaaagh!” Haruka screamed, her voice pure agony. 
“Haruka! Haruka!” Ayato cried out, deactivating his sword. “Stop it, Mortis! You win!” 
“A wise decision. Let me add one more thing. I think you’ll find that removing that fragment will be remarkably difficult. It will only be there, physically inside her, while the Raksha-Nada is activated.” Mortis began to walk toward them, his cold eyes peering down through his mask at the both of them. “I want to keep from killing you, Haruka. I really do. But I won’t take any second chances, I’m afraid. Thanks to you, our best plan, our fastest, most elegant one, has come to nothing. Our present efforts may pale in comparison to what we had hoped to achieve, but I won’t let you interfere with them again. If you try to oppose us this time, I’ll show you no mercy.” He spoke plainly, his tone matter-of-fact, but it was clear that he meant every word. 
If they tried anything, Ayato understood, he no doubt meant to kill her. 
“…I’ll enter the Lindvolus. That’s what you want, isn’t it?” 
“No, I’m afraid that alone won’t be enough. It would be such a killjoy if you were to lose during in the first round, for instance. I’m going to have to insist that you take the championship.” 
“What…?!” 
In other words, he would have to defeat Erenshkigal. 
Moreover, that could mean having to fight Julis, too. 
“It shouldn’t be impossible for you, given your abilities. Together, I want the two of you to show the world the glory that is your birthright. How about it? Do you have a problem with any of that?” 
“…Fine.” Ayato bit his lips, all but dragging the answer out of his throat. 
He had no choice but to submit. 
“Haruka, I’m going to need you to remove my seal. It isn’t that we need my strength to carry out the plan or anything…but it is a nuisance. If you’ve made it somewhat irregular, like last time, we’re going to have a problem.” 
Haruka scowled up at him, but her eyes were filled with resignation. After a short moment, she shut her eyes, letting out a hopeless sigh. “With this I do dispel thy fetters and release thy power,” she murmured under her breath. 
As the words faded into silence, Ayato could practically see the weight of the invisible chains that had been holding Lamina Mortis back completely vanishing. 
“Thank you. That’s one problem taken care of,” he said as he turned his back on them, his voice seemingly reinvigorated. “I can’t say I don’t want you to come back…but I’m afraid that would ruffle the feathers of my associates. You wanted to enter Stjarnagarm, if I’m not mistaken. Well, I won’t stand in your way.” 
“…You won’t stop her?” Ayato called back in bewilderment. 
“Whether she joins them or not, nothing will change,” Lamina Mortis answered without even looking back. “The same goes for you, Ayato. Did you think I didn’t know about your little conspiracy with the Enfields and Miss Lyyneheym? As ineffective as they are, I suspect they will keep doing what they’re doing, with or without your help. And putting aside Miss Enfield and Miss Lyyneheym, neither the elder Enfield nor the commander of Stjarnagarm would be foolish enough to oppose us directly. But if you did try, I suppose I could always use the Raksha-Nada.” 
Lamina Mortis, it seemed, already knew everything. 
As he turned to leave, Ayato called out in desperation: “What the hell are you trying to achieve? Even before all this, you went and kidnapped Haruka, you tried to cause a second Invertia, and then you attacked me before the last match of the Gryps to do what? Give me a bit more experience? It doesn’t make any sense!” 
“What am I trying to achieve? Hmm, if I had to say…I’m just trying to speed things along a little.” 
That answer was so far from what Ayato had been expecting that he had no idea what to make of it. 
“‘Speed things along’…?” 
“Exactly. That’s all I’m after,” Lamina Mortis declared, before disappearing with Varda into the darkness of the ruins. 
 
At almost the exact same time, in a different section of the redevelopment area— 
“To think that you would have called me here, Orphelia.” Julis fought to keep her emotions in check as she called out to her friend. “No matter how many times I tried to reach you, you kept on turning me down. And now this turn of events.” 
Orphelia stood alone in the center of a ruined building, the roof of which had completely fallen in. The moonlight combing through her glistening white hair; her crimson eyes staring directly at Julis; and her voice, as she responded to her, seemed to be filled with unfathomable sorrow: “…This is our fate, Julis.” 
“Hmph, fate again? Unfortunately for you, I don’t believe in that overly romantic notion.” 
The school fair had been running today, but Julis had spent practically the whole day in her training room, working to improve her control over her prana in whatever small way she could. 
It wasn’t as if she hadn’t thought about spending the day with Ayato…but Haruka had only just returned to Asterisk, and she didn’t want to make a nuisance of herself. 
But then Orphelia had reached out to her. 
“You know, you could have picked somewhere a little nicer. Or did you want to come here on purpose?” 
This whole place was filled with painful memories. They were standing in the very location where Julis had first reunited with Orphelia, where they had fought against each other for the first time, and where Julis had been soundly defeated. 
“I chose a place we both know. That was all.” 
“…Right. Well, what did you want to tell me?” 
Orphelia would hardly have called her here just to remind her of that nightmarish experience. If she was being honest with herself, there was nothing Julis wanted more right now than to drag Orphelia from the mire of deception and conflict that she had found herself in and take her back to Lieseltania—but she knew that would be impossible. 
She still wasn’t strong enough to do that. 
As she was now, she still couldn’t get through to her. 
“Can I ask you something first?” Orphelia asked. “Why are you so obsessed with me?” 
“Isn’t it obvious? Because you’re my dear, precious friend,” Julis answered without the slightest hesitation. 

 

“…I see. We were friends. But it’s different now.” 
“!” 
Julis gritted her teeth but forced herself to take a deep breath. “…If you had come to this city of your own free will, if you had chosen to serve the Tyrant, that would be one thing. I might not have wanted to accept it, but the pain would have been that of friends going separate ways. But that isn’t what happened. You’ve given up on your own free will, on your own desires. You’re letting yourself be manipulated by this illusion you call fate. So I’m going to save you, no matter what it takes. I’ll meet your challenge.” 
That day, during their first meeting at Asterisk, Orphelia had said to her that if her fate could surpass her own, then she would do as Julis wished. All she had to do was break the school crest hanging from her chest. 
“Yes, I did say that. But the situation has changed. That’s what I wanted to tell you.” 
“What’s that supposed to mean?” 
Orphelia’s unblinking eyes were filled with resignation and sorrow. “My end is drawing near. If you want to overturn my fate…please kill me. Let me die by your hand.” 
“What?! How could I…?!” 
At that moment, the air around Orphelia, almost trembling with an incredible amount of mana, suddenly erupted, with countless miasmic arms rising up from the ground. 
“!” Julis didn’t waste a moment before activating her Rect Lux. “What are you doing? Don’t tell me you want this again?” 
“…Let’s put your fate to the test, Julis.” 
Those brackish, corpse-like arms tore through the ground like a gale as they raced toward Julis. But before they could reach her— 
“Burst into bloom—Moss Phlox!” 
Julis’s ability burned through them all in the blink of an eye, leaving only countless pink-colored embers dancing through the air like petals. 
This was a new technique, one that required the use of her Rect Lux. In short, she used its remote terminals, deployed around her in perfect formation, to help channel her prana, greatly amplifying the efficiency and range of her attacks. 
“…Well, Orphelia? I’ve grown since we last fought. And I’ve got new techniques, ones that I didn’t use at the Gryps.” 
“Hmm…” Orphelia’s sorrowful expression remained unchanged as she let out a deep sigh. “Your fate certainly glows brighter now than it did before. So let me ask you again. Julis…please kill me.” 
“Don’t even joke about that!” 
This time, she couldn’t hold herself back. As she cried out in anger, she stepped forward, reaching to grab Orphelia by the collar, when— 
“I’m not joking.” Orphelia’s whole body seemed to waver like a mirage, when all of a sudden, she was standing not in front of Julis, but at her side. 
How did she…?! 
Before Julis could even move, she leaned forward to whisper in her ear: 
“?” 
“What?!” 
Julis could do nothing but stand dumbfounded, doubting her own hearing. Orphelia’s words had been that shocking. 
“W-wait! I don’t believe you! That doesn’t make any sense! What would be the point of doing something like that…?!” she whispered, her voice pained. 
Orphelia was turning to leave, when she paused to look back. “I don’t know. But the reason is irrelevant. All that matters is that it’s my fate,” she replied, her voice bearing all the anguish of someone condemned to hell and, at the same time, a detached matter-of-factness, as if she weren’t even talking about herself. 
She was being completely serious. 
As soon as Julis realized that, an anger so powerful that it all but blotted out her sense of consternation erupted from deep inside her. 
“Orphelia!” 
Julis reached out toward her, but before her fingertips could graze against her pure white hair, Julis was slammed completely into the ground. 
“Guh…?!” 
It wasn’t an attack from Orphelia’s miasma. Julis had been on her guard against her abilities. 
No, she remembered this feeling, this sense of being crushed by a gigantic, unseen weight. She had experienced it once before. 
She managed, with difficulty, to look upward, only to see it gripped tightly in Orphelia’s hand. 
“Wh-why…do you…have…that…?!” She had to practically wring every word from her throat. 
Orphelia, on the other hand, wore a grave expression as she stroked its blade. “Because I was ordered to. This one also suffers.” 
It was an enormous scythe. 
There was no way that Julis could have forgotten the eerie purple hue of its urm-manadite core. 
The Gravisheath. 
The last time she had encountered this notorious Orga Lux with the ability to manipulate gravity, it had been in the hands of Irene Urzaiz from Le Wolfe, when she had fought against her during the Phoenix. It was supposed to have been destroyed by Ayato at the end of the match—but looking closer, she could tell it had changed. It must have been reassembled. 
The biggest difference was, unmistakably, its aura. 
During the Phoenix, the Orga Lux had seemed to be looking down on Julis and Ayato—and even Irene, its own user—with contempt. It had clearly harbored a sense of malice toward people. 
Now, however, all that seemed to have been replaced with shrieks of agony. That violet urm-manadite core was, in its own way, crying out for help. 
“She doesn’t like my blood, it seems.” 
The cost of using the Gravisheath was precisely that—blood. 
Orphelia’s, however, was highly toxic—so much so that one drop would be enough to kill everything growing in the ground below. 
“…But thanks to that, she’s very docile. Completely different from what Irene Urzaiz told me about her.” 
In other words, Orphelia had been able to make the Gravisheath submit to her will. 
Generally speaking, Stregas and Dantes didn’t have strong affinities with Orga Luxes, but it was true that a very small number of such individuals had been able to successfully enter the Festa. Haruka, wielding the Ser Veresta, was one such example. 
And yet— 
So now I’ve got another hurdle to overcome…?! 
Orphelia was the two-time champion of the Lindvolus and, perhaps, the strongest Strega in history. Even if she didn’t wield an Orga Lux, there was no one truly capable of challenging her throne. 
“…You mustn’t tell anyone about this, Julis. If word were to get out, they’ll move their plans forward ahead of the tournament,” Orphelia said in warning as she began to depart. 
“W-wait…! Orphelia…!” Julis reached out desperately toward her, but it wasn’t enough. 
It had never been enough. 
Even after the weight of the Gravisheath had completely dissipated, Julis couldn’t muster the will to pull herself up from the ground. 
Flames of bitter frustration, of anger, of despair raged inside her as she turned the same thoughts over and over again. 
Why had Orphelia told her all that if she didn’t want anyone else to know? 
Why had she gone out of her way to call her here in the first place? 
“…Orphelia!” she called out again, clenching her outstretched fist. 
Perhaps, Julis wondered, she was deceiving herself. 
But she was sure of it: Orphelia had wanted this meeting. 
And if that was the case, then this was no time to lay sprawled here in despair. 
She rose to her feet, resolve flowing through her anew. After passing one last glance down the pathway through which Orphelia had disappeared, the princess spun around, determined to put these ruins behind her.