Gakusen Toshi Asterisk - Volume 13 - Chapter Ep

EPILOGUE 
From the air-window illuminating the darkness, Mico Yanase and Zaharoula’s discussion of the tournament rang out. 
“Well, well, well, Round Four was just one hard-fought battle after another, don’t you think? Now that we’re finally down to the top sixteen…why don’t we review each of the contestants, Zaharoula? Let’s start with the first match of Round Five. To kick things off, we’ve got Seidoukan Academy’s number one, Ayato Amagiri, the Murakumo, who, as I’m sure our viewers all know, was part of the winning teams of both the Phoenix and the Gryps this season and is hoping to become the first contestant since the second Ban’yuu Tenra to pull off a grand slam!” 
“If you were to take the overwhelming favorite, Orphelia Landlufen, out of the picture, I’d say he’s at the top of the three most promising contenders,” she agreed. “He’s got a high level of physical ability and a wide knowledge of a variety of martial arts. Not to mention his incredible amount of prana—and that Orga Lux of his, the Ser Veresta, with its ability to cut through just about anything. It looks like he wasn’t very good at controlling his prana up until recently, but now that he can optimize the Ser Veresta to suit his own battle style, I’d say that his most glaring weakness has been taken care of.” 
“I see, I see. How about his next opponent, then? Rodolfo Zoppo? Basadone is Le Wolfe’s second-highest-ranked fighter, right? People have been saying that he’s the real thing for years now, but this is his first time ever entering the Festa. He sure made an exciting display of carving through his opponents in the preliminaries!” 
“That ability of his to manipulate other people’s prana is extraordinary. I mean, it doesn’t matter who you are—once you’re within his range, he’ll be able to KO you just like that. If I had to say that he’s got a weakness…that ability would be completely useless against an opponent who doesn’t have any prana to begin with—like, say, those autonomous puppets that Allekant’s entrants are using as substitute fighters. Luckily for Rodolfo, both puppets that have made it into the main tournament aren’t in his block, so he won’t have to face them until the final, if then. Although, even without his Dante abilities, he’s still a formidable martial artist, so I’m sure all his potential opponents are busy working out counterstrategies.” 
“Moving on to the second match, let’s take a look at Jie Long Seventh Institute’s Fuyuka Umenokouji,” Yanase went on. “This is also the Witch of Dharani’s first time out on the public stage. I’ve heard her called Jie Long’s hidden treasure… But didn’t you think that ability of hers was a bit strange, what with her summoning up those weird creatures during the preliminaries?” 
“Something tells me we haven’t seen everything she’s capable of yet, so I can’t really say anything about this one. Her skills look a bit like a unique arrangement of seisenjutsu, but still…it looks like she’s capable of fighting for herself, too. She’s an interesting one, that’s for sure. And given that she ranks even higher than Raigeki Senka at Jie Long, which, as you know, values strength above everything else, I’m sure that ability of hers isn’t just for show.” 
“Facing off against Contestant Umenokouji is Saint Gallardworth Academy’s seventh-ranked fighter, Noelle Messmer. Perceforêt has made a pretty unusual move for one of Gallardworth’s Page Ones in entering the Lindvolus. At Gallardworth, they normally expect their top-ten fighters to team up in the Gryps while ignoring the other tournaments, right? In fact, Contestant Messmer was part of Team Tristan in last year’s Gryps, wasn’t she?” 
“There’s been more than a few contestants who have shown unexpected growth over a short period of time and made it into the main tournament this year,” Zaharoula offered. “Noelle Messmer is certainly one of them. She’s shown dramatic improvements in close-combat—especially so considering that it used to be her main weak point—but on top of that, it’s hard to miss just how much her area abilities have improved, too. She might not be as famous as well-known names like Sigrdrífa or the Glühen Rose, but as a Strega, she ranks among the best.” 
“Hmm, hmm, I see. And next up…in the third match, we have Seidoukan Academy’s eleventh-ranked fighter, Lester MacPhail. Kornephoros’s tremendous attack power managed to tear right through his opponents’ defenses in the preliminaries. Among the top sixteen, he’s one of only three contestants who aren’t relying on abilities or Orga Luxes. He’s the kind of fighter who likes to decide things in a single bout, whether it’s an official ranking match or here at the Festa.” 
“Lester MacPhail is another one of those fighters who has shown an incredible amount of growth over a short period of time. Practically everything about him has leveled up, from his battle style designed to keep his opponent on the back foot through sheer brute force to his unique offensive skills and overpowering way of fighting. Well, he was always good at adapting to changing circumstances, but still. Speaking for myself, his fourth-round match against Irene Urzaiz was something to behold.” 
“It’s probably fair to say that Contestant MacPhail’s opponent is this year’s dark horse entrant, Saint Gallardworth Academy’s Black Knight. His match versus Roswitha Dietze was… How do I say this…? A bit scary, to be perfectly honest with you.” Yanase chuckled nervously. “He was heavily reprimanded and lost half his points as a penalty, and yet…” 
“Gallardworth’s student council president described him as a Dante with multiple different personalities. I’d never seen a case like that before, either… What did he call his ability? Invincibility? Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but his strength definitely does go beyond the norm. I’m looking forward to seeing how the other entrants are planning to deal with him.” 
“And next, in the fourth and last round from the West Block, we have Seidoukan Academy’s number five, Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld. The Glühen Rose is a top-class Strega also aiming to win a grand slam this time around—and a bona fide princess to boot. Every time I watch her fight, she’s more and more amazing!” 
“She’s increased all her skills to a high level. With her range of abilities suited for medium- and long-range combat, and with her Rect Lux supporting her in close combat, she’s got a huge advantage as a jack-of-all-trades. On top of that, she’s clearly got an aptitude for strategizing—and a fine control over her prana, too. I’d definitely list her among my top picks.” 
“Her opponent is Jie Long Seventh Institute’s number two, Xiaohui Wu,” Yanase continued. “These two last fought each other in their semifinals match during the Gryps, but we didn’t really get to see them face off against each other directly back then. I’m looking forward to what they’ve got in store for us this time! Rumor has it that after his loss at the Gryps, the Celestial Warrior has taken a leave of absence to travel around the world to improve his abilities… That’s probably why he was able to end every last one of his matches during the preliminaries in a single blow.” 
“Xiaohui Wu is the first disciple of the third-generation Ban’yuu Tenra, and he’s head and shoulders above her other students in terms of combat techniques. After Erenshkigal, he’s my second-top pick for the winner this time around. Whether it comes to hand-to-hand combat, weapons, or seisenjutsu at close or medium ranges, he’s at the head of the crowd. The fact that Ayato Amagiri and Kirin Toudou had to team up during the Gryps to defeat him is pretty telling, I’d say. On top of that, it looks like he’s developed some new techniques to show off this time as well.” 

“Moving on—kicking off the East Block, in the fifth match, we’ve got Seidoukan Academy’s Saya Sasamiya. Seidoukan has had four students make it all the way to the top sixteen, their largest number ever for this stage of the tournament. They’ve really made great strides since last season, enough to make it hard to believe that they had been in the middle of a bit of a slump only a few years ago. Pretty surprising, considering that Le Wolfe had the most entrants make it through to the top thirty-two—but they’ve been reduced to just two fighters now that we’re entering Round Five.” 
“Well, considering that those two surviving entrants are their first- and second-ranked fighters, I’d say that their chances are still pretty good,” Zaharoula cautioned. “But as far as Saya Sasamiya goes, we’ve all seen her ultra-high-powered Luxes on show in both the Phoenix and the Gryps. As far as I’m concerned, they’re practically on par with Orga Luxes. She’s been doing well so far, and you can be sure she’s packing massive firepower when it comes to long-range combat. I’m not a gambling woman, but if I was going to bet on someone, it’d probably be her. The favorites are pretty boring by this point, and if you’re hoping to get a huge return on your wager, the chances of making a killing on her are by no means slim.” 
“Oh, that’s an interesting point! Contestant Sasamiya is going up against Queenvale Academy for Young Ladies’ Violet Weinberg. Overliezel’s specialty is also long-range combat, but she’s got a good variety of moves up her sleeve. Talk about exciting, getting two long-range fighters going up against each other like this!” 
“Violet Weinberg is another entrant who has shown dramatic growth over a very short period of time. In fact, the way I see it, she’s the cream of the crop as far as that group goes. The way she handles herself in close-combat especially has improved to an almost impossible extent, but the development of her abilities is the most dramatic thing about her. It’s like she’s a completely different person than when she competed in the Gryps last year. If I had to single out one thing that’s really caught my interest, it’s that these entrants who have shown rapid growth all have a certain close-combat fighting style. It’s almost like what they teach at Jie Long…” 
“The sixth match is going to be an unusual one. We’re looking at a contest between Allekant Académie’s two substitute fighters, both autonomous puppets. On the one hand, we’ve got Contestant Rimcy, who we last saw in the Phoenix, and on the other, we’ve got a newcomer, the brand-new Contestant Lenaty. The former is fighting on behalf of Camilla Pareto, while the latter represents Ernesta Kühne. These two are apparently best friends, were tag partners during the Phoenix to boot, and were both responsible for initially developing the autonomous puppets in the first place. This fated encounter is going to be exciting to watch, don’t you think?” 
“To be honest, I’m not very interested in machines,” Zaharoula said with a hum. “But…from what I saw in the preliminaries, Rimcy looks like she’s gone through an evolutionary leap of her own as well. Her armaments have all been upgraded, so maybe that explains it? Lenaty’s specs, on the other hand, are, to put it simply, incredible. I’m guessing they’ve both got more hidden moves that they haven’t had to show off yet in the preliminaries, so it’s hard to really get a proper reading of them.” 
“Moving on to the seventh match, we’re looking at a clash between two stars from Queenvale Academy for Young Ladies. First up, we’ve got their number two fighter, Neithnefer. Despite being one of the world’s top dancers, she apparently doesn’t like facing the media. This is her first time entering the Festa since the last Lindvolus, but given how spectacular her hand-to-hand fighting skills were back then, I can’t wait to see how much she’s improved!” 
“Out of the sixteen remaining entrants, she’s definitely the best when it comes to fighting empty-handed. Jie Long’s top fighters might have her beat as far as techniques go, but the way she systematically employs her skills is another kind of strength in and of itself. Hers is a flexible, if violently primitive, skill set with infinite scope for adaptation and change. The way I see it, only someone at the Celestial Warrior’s level will be able to stand a chance against her.” 
“And of course, her opponent fighting for a position in the top eight is none other than Queenvale’s number one, the world’s most popular songstress and the runner-up from the last Lindvolus, Sylvia Lyyneheym! But I’m sure there’s no need to explain Sigrdrífa’s accomplishments—her abilities speak for themselves! And I’m sure our viewers all remember her championship match against Erenshkigal in the last Lindvolus!” 
“Sigrdrífa is the last of my three favorites once you take Erenshkigal out of the equation,” Zaharoula noted. “You probably already knew that, though. Anyway, the way she’s able to apply her abilities is nothing short of incredible. I’m inclined to think that her championship match last time was a bit one-sided, but she did manage to put up a pretty good fight. I don’t think there’s any room to doubt that she’ll have the biggest chance of defeating Orphelia Landlufen this time around.” 
“Well then, we should move on to the final match of the fifth round!” Yanase chimed. “First up, we’ve got a bit of a surprise here—Allekant Académie’s impressive Hilda Jane Rowlands. She’s a famous researcher in her own right and a renowned and talented young woman over at Allekant, but the most mysterious thing of all has to be that she had never even entered an official ranking match before this, let alone a Festa. Even now, it’s hard for me to believe, but in the preliminaries, her powerful abilities were enough to literally destroy the urm-manadite core of an Orga Lux! It was terrifying, let me tell you!” 
“I’ve got a lot that I’d like to say about this one, but I’ll keep it brief. Doesn’t she remind you of someone else? That’s what’s got me bothered.” 
“She reminds you of someone?” 
“Isn’t it obvious? Her opponent this time, Orphelia Landlufen.” 
“Huh? Do you think so? I would have thought they were exact opposites… Ah, sorry! Right, Contestant Rowlands is going up against the current two-time victor of the Lindvolus, the undefeated champion currently hoping to become the first person in history to score three consecutive victories! To top it all off, she’s even wielding an Orga Lux this time! With the Gravisheath, it’s hard to say that she’s got even a single blind spot! Erenshkigal, Orphelia Landlufen, is—” 
At that moment, the air-window suddenly snapped shut. 
The young woman in the center of the room had lost all interest in the reporting. 
It was a bare room, furnished with nothing more than a bed, windowless and pervaded by a wan darkness, and looked at first glance more like a prison cell than a student’s domicile. The young, white-haired woman, sitting perched on the edge of that bed, closed her vacant, crimson eyes and let out a weak sigh. 
“…Not long now… Just a little more, and finally…it will all be over…”