Light Novel Volume 08

The eighth Light Novel volume of the series that was released on October 14, 2015.

Summary
The Seven Stars Sword Art Festival reaches it's semifinals with four competitors left. Ikki to face off against Amane while Stella faces off against Ouma.

Chapters
Intermission: In Order not to Regret it Again

Shizuku is reminiscing her early childhood days that she spent with her beloved brother. At that time she thought every day was full of happiness, but she realized how foolish she was for not noticing that her brother had been fighting many things. She didn’t have the power to help him back then but it is different now. She knows what she has to do and she doesn’t mind if she ends up losing everything.

Chapter 11: A Fresh Bloody Truth

It starts with a flashback to the time after Shizuku and Alice returned back to the tournament venue after they went to the department store in the previous volume. She told Alice that she would attack Amane in the waiting room before their match started. Shizuku thought there was nothing she could do if Amane used ‘Nameless Glory’ before the match and made Shizuku abstain the match like he did to his previous opponents. If she couldn’t fight Amane during the match then she would fight him before then. However, this would be foul play and Shizuku would be disqualified. Shizuku didn’t mind because if she would end up abstaining the match, then she would rather take Amane along with her. Shizuku wouldn’t let Amane get near Ikki especially after the dangerous stuff Amane said back in Vol 6. So Shizuku would surprise attack Amane and give him enough damage that would make him unable to recover in time to participate in the semifinal match against Ikki. Alice said that Ikki and even Stella wouldn’t be happy but Shizuku understood. Those two are nice and Shizuku had fun earlier during the day with them and with Alice too. Not just that day, she enjoyed the days they spent together since she came to Hagun. She couldn’t do anything for Ikki during his hardships before but she was determined to protect him this time. She asked Alice to help her because she might not succeed in her surprise attack if doing it alone, and so Alice agreed. In his mind, Alice said sorry to Ikki that he wasn’t a good friend but he would not let Shizuku be alone.

Back to the present, it is just before the match starts. Shizuku uses Alice’s shadow ability to sneak into the waiting room and attacks Amane. She fires her ice spears at Amane which pierce his limbs and skull. She thought even when using a 'capsule' it would take too long to recover from his wounds, particularly the damage to his brain, and so he wouldn’t make the semifinal match. She thinks it is over but to her surprise Amane calmly gets back up despite such injuries. Amane says he doesn’t understand either but there have been people who could drive to hospitals with a knife stuck on their head or survived a gunshot to the brain after all, and Amane has very good luck. Alice then uses ‘Shadow Bind’ on Amane immediately. However, the lights in the room go down for a short moment which looks like it is due to being old or loose wiring, and so Alice’s shadow ability is lost for a moment. All of a sudden Alice is stabbed by countless number of swords and loses consciousness as he goes down. Amane had manifested his device ‘Azure’, which is countless swords, between his fingers. He doesn’t blame Shizuku and Alice for doing this but instead he is trembling out of excitement. He admires Shizuku’s strong love for Ikki and so he decides to give her a special chance. If Shizuku can defeat Amane under one minute, Amane’s ability will ensure that no one will find out about this incident.

Shizuku deploys ‘Yoishigure’ and moves to attack him but she ends up tripping twice. The first time was from Alice’s blood on the floor and second time was from her legs hitting each other while moving. She then decides to fire multiple ‘Suiroudan’ from a distance but all of them miss Amane. Shizuku realizes ‘Nameless Glory’ is responsible for the errors she’s making. Amane says all he did was wishing to win this game and after all it’s possible for any person to make a mistake. While Shizuku is wondering what to do, Amane uses the opening to slash her forehead and her vision is compromised with her back against a wall. Shizuku still wouldn’t give up, saying that Amane has no right to be in the tournament where everyone had been fighting with pride. Shizuku then creates a fog from water pressure, covering the entire room. However, Amane manages to throw his swords at Shizuku impaling her to the wall. By this time, everyone outside had already noticed what’s happening and there is voice coming out from a speaker in the room asking what they are doing. Amane explains to everyone who is watching that all he did was defending himself and Shizuku was committing a foul for Ikki’s sake. Shizuku tries to protest but she can’t make decent voice because of her injuries.

“Having fought her, I could tell. Ikki-kun, Shizuku-chan loves you. Of course not as a family. She loves you as the opposite sex. That’s why I think while you’ve been dating Stella-chan, it has been painful for her. For Ikki to turn around and look back at her, I think she kept having those feelings.”

“Sto,….p….”

“…And then because of those feelings, she turned to violence. ….By eliminating any enemy that may become an obstacle to your dream, your goal to become the Seven Stars Sword King, she contributes to your dream and harbored a wrong desire to be loved by you.

“……S, …..to, ……p…..”

“It’s true what Shizuku-chan did was wrong, but I think the feeling of wanting to be loved by the person you love is a natural thing. That’s why I want you to also consider her feelings somehow. So, how about it. If it’s okay with Ikki-kun, please accept her feelings. If you love Shizuku-chan as a woman---“

“Ue….egu….”

Shizuku’s feelings of loving her brother as a sister, woman, more than anyone in this world is being revealed to her beloved brother by the man she hates most in a way that makes her look like a cat in heat. It is an act that can be called rape. Shizuku begs him while crying.

“Please…, stop, now…..”

Immediately after, there is an explosion which causes a huge hole on the wall and Stella enters the room. Amane is surprised and then complains about Stella breaking down the wall. Stella tells him to shut up, and if he further smears Shizuku’s feelings with mud she will turn him into cinders. Shizuku is released and thanks Stella before her consciousness goes dark. The committee is able to prove that Amane’s claim of being surprise attacked by Shizuku was true from a video recording of the whole event although the voice data was damaged. Amane automatically reaches the semifinal, and Shizuku is banned from official matches for 3 months and is to submit an apology statement.

Later that night, Ikki is doing a little bit of training at park near the hotel while Shizuku and Alice still haven’t woken up yet. Stella shows up and asks what kind of training Ikki is doing. Ikki explains that he is training to accurately control his body so that he can perform Edelweiss’ swordplay as good as her. But Ikki still can’t make it silent like hers. Ikki then thanks Stella for saving Shizuku but Stella says it wasn’t necessary since she couldn’t forgive Amane as well. Stella then wants to talk about Shizuku’s feelings for Ikki that Amane revealed. Ikki understood that Shizuku was giving him by herself alone all the amount of love that he never received before such as love from a sister, friend, father, mother and the opposite sex. Shizuku is a wonderful girl to him, and so he can’t forgive Amane for hurting her. Stella is glad that he understood and Ikki says how kind she was. Stella says it is natural to care about your future sister-in-law. They then mention to each other about the semifinals happening the next day, where they will find out if they can fulfill their promise to each other. Ikki reminds Stella that Ouma is probably the strongest of all that Stella has faced, but Stella says she had become stronger than that. Stella’s body is then covered in magical power and Ikki can see an illusion of dragon on her back. She throws a ball of paper that bisects an iron pipe and sinks into a concrete wall. Stella says she is going ahead first and she will be waiting in the final match. However, Ikki tells her that though it is hard for him to say when she is leaving in a cool-looking way, she shouldn’t destroy things in a public park. Stella replies that she will call the city hall the next day, and her earlobes turn red as she is leaving without turning around.

After Stella had left, Prime Minister Tsukikage shows up. Tsukikage had met Ikki once before though it was back when Ryouma was still alive and so Ikki didn’t remember. Ikki is vigilant of Tsukikage since he’s the leader of the enemies he’s been facing recently. Tsukikage needs to talk to him but Ikki immediately refuses. He thinks Amane’s ability might have something to do with Tsukikage showing up. Tsukikage says there is no need for him to worry because as things remain as they are, Ikki will not fight Amane during the match. Ikki asks if he will end up losing by default due to absence, but that’s not what Tsukikage meant. Amane wouldn’t cause something like that because his hatred is much deeper than Ikki had thought. What Tsuikiage wants to talk about is regarding Amane and he asks if Ikki is interested. The chapter ends with Ikki agreeing to talk with Tsukikage.

Chapter 12: A Pair of Dragons’ Rivalry 

The first semifinal match between Stella and Ouma is about to start. Touka and Kanata had left the hospital and came to Osaka to watch the semifinals. They meet with Ikki and join him in watching the match. The professional Blazer acting as one of the commentators this time is Nene. After Ouma and Stella arrive on the ring arena, the start signal is given. After Stella and Ouma had deployed their devices, she uses ‘Broken Arrow’ which she creates fireballs and shoots them toward Ouma. However, they have no effect since Ouma parries them with his wind power. Ouma moves towards Stella fast and so Stella puts on her ‘Empress Dress’. Ouma keeps moving towards her without hesitation because he can use his wind to create vacuum barrier to protect him from the very hot surrounding area near Stella, as Nene explains. When their swords clash, it creates a huge sound impact that causes the audience on the front rows to fall on their backs. Kanata is impressed and Ikki says Stella is just getting started, though Touka says that it is also the same for Ouma. Stella then ignites ‘Laevateinn’ in flames and uses ‘Satan Fang’, which is like seven simultaneous ‘Dragon Fangs’. Ouma then uses ‘Fuujin Kekkai (wind god barrier)’, which he pierces his sword to the ring and creates a tornado around him that tears the flame dragons into pieces. Ouma had lost sight of Stella for a moment due to Stella using ‘Flame Veil’ which hid her body by refracting light from the heat. Then, she is already behind him by the time he realizes it and she swings her sword towards his neck. However, Stella ends up injured instead with both her arms bleeding. Stella couldn’t end up cutting him which was the same thing that happened when Touka fought Ouma back in Vol 4. The commentator remarks that it’s not just Ouma’s attacks, but it is also his inexplicable defense that makes him terrifying. However, Ikki had already understood the secret behind it after fighting Ouma back in Vol 5. When their swords clash again, Stella is still unable to cut Ouma and she ends up being blown away by Ouma’s kick. Her internal organs are hurt and she spills blood from her mouth. It was like striking a mountain but Stella has finally realized what is with Ouma’s body.

He then tells her to listen to what he is about to talk about, which is his resolve. He starts by explaining a story about him from 5 years earlier. Despite winning the U-12 world tournament when he was in elementary school, he was unsatisfied because he felt he couldn’t overcome his limits in a warm environment. So he left Japan and the League of Mage-Knight Nations to go to places where real battles exist such as the slums and underground arenas. He believed without a doubt that he was on his way to become the world’s strongest knight. However, his conceit didn’t last long until he reached the end of the world where he met the ‘Tyrant’. Stella, being a country’s princess, recognizes that name as the leader of Rebellion. Ouma fought the Tyrant but he was overwhelmed and couldn’t even resist him. It was obvious because the Tyrant is the incarnation of violence who had reigned at the top of the underworld for the past over half a century. Even now Ouma’s whole body still trembles in fear just by remembering it, and he could have been killed if Edelweiss hadn’t saved him. After that he realized that in order to be in the same area as the one in the top of the world, he needed an ‘evolution’.

Ouma removes his upper clothes and says “Tenryuu (heavenly dragon) Armor --release”. Ouma releases a huge pressure that sends Stella far back. Ouma had been wearing a wind armor Noble Art that bounded his body with extremely high pressure air, which continued to put a load on his body in order to push his body beyond the limit. His muscle and body densities became tens of times of an ordinary person and so his body became like steel that can withstand any attack. After releasing the armor, Ouma becomes even faster than Ikki using Edelweiss’ technique. Stella is barely keeping up with Ouma’s fast and strong sword swings. Ouma uses ‘Shinkuuha (Vacuum Blade)’, attacking Stella with high-speed invisible magical vacuum slashes. Stella is able to repel them by sensing them but she gets hit in the abdomen by a physical slash caused by wind pressure. Ouma attacks again and manages to hit Stella with his powered fist, blowing Stella far away into the wall where she crashes. However, despite in such conditions and amazed of Ouma’s strength, Stella is smiling. She didn’t receive much damage thanks to her huge amount of magic power and gets back on the ring. Before they resume, Stella asks Ouma why he would go so far to reach the top. He answers that being stronger than anyone else would make him feel really good. Stella think Ouma is similar to the man she loves most, and she tells Ouma that he is the second opponent that she respects deeply. “That’s why, I will show you. The ‘Crimson Princess’ Stella Vermillion’s true power…!”, she says. She then stabs her own body with ‘Laevateinn’ as she says “Dragon Spirit….!!!!”. At that moment, dazzling light along with a heat wave comes out from her body and covers the entire venue completely.

The scene then flashes back to where Stella was having a special training with Nene. During the first day, Nene pointed out that Stella’s sword was lacking something. Then, it was the day before the start of the tournament and Stella still couldn’t figure out what she was lacking. Nene refused to give her a hint because telling her would give the opposite effect. She manifested her pair of iron fans device, ‘Beniiro Ageha’ (red swallowtails, written with kanji for ‘red phoenix’), and Stella could see the thirst for blood in Nene’s eyes. Stella tried to jump back but got pulled towards Nene by her gravity-manipulating ability. Stella manifested her device and attacked Nene with ‘Katharterio Salamandra’. But as the attack almost reached Nene, its trajectory suddenly changed direction. Stella then defended against ‘Black Sword - Yatagarasu’ from the iron fan on Nene’s right hand, but she was blown away by the butterfly-shaped gravity energy of ‘Kokushichou (black death butterfly)’ from the other iron fan. Stella was injured badly with blood spilling from her mouth. Nene said that if Stella couldn’t figure out during that time period what she was lacking, then she could die when fighting Ouma since a battle between A-rank knights was this dangerous. Nene then used ‘Jibakujin (earthbound formation)’, increasing ten times the gravity of her surrounding space including Stella's body. Stella used ‘Dragon Fang’ but the fire dragon changed direction as it got close to Nene, because her gravity ability twisted the space into like a maze. Nene increased the gravity of ‘Jibakujin’ and Stella’s body was slammed to the ground and she couldn’t lift it. As Stella was about to give up, she then remembered her past which made her realize that she had forgotten of her belief that being the person with the most amount of magic in the world she is a stronger existence than anyone else. She then believed that there should be a power hidden inside her body that she didn’t know about. In that moment of determination, her body moved and she stabbed her chest with’ Laevateinn’, causing an explosion of light and heat. Nene smiled since Stella had awakened her true power.

The scene then changes back to the present right after where it left off, and during which Nene notes that what Stella lacked was ‘believing in her own talent more’. Most people needed humility, but in Stella’s case what she needed was pride, the self-confidence of being an absolute strong person. What Nene didn’t expect was that such monster was sleeping. The ‘Laevateinn’ that stabbed Stella’s chest disappears and her body is shining differently from her usual magic light. She looks up to the sky and roars as shown in one of the pics. Stella then moves so fast that Ouma only has time to guard with his arms. She hits his arm with her fist so hard that it leaves a fist-shaped burn mark and Nene says Ouma’s arm should have been burned to the bone. Ouma succumbs to his knees and is holding his arm in so much pain. The audience doesn’t understand Stella’s huge power-up, but Ikki and Nene do. Stella is not a nature-interference type Blazer with the ability to manipulate fire, but is actually a conceptual-manipulation type Blazer and the true form of her power is ‘Dragon’. Stella thanks Ouma because it was because of him that she was able to recall herself.

Ouma put on his ‘Tenryuu Armor’ back and attacks Stella with his sword. But the slashes are too slow for Stella and she is able to repel them with her fists without a single scratch on her fist. Ouma then attacks her with his fastest sword attack called ‘Amaterasu’. Ouma manages to cut Stella but that doesn’t stop her from crushing his shin bone with a low kick. Not only that, her wound closes so fast as if her body is that of an immortal dragon. Ouma attacks with wind bombs but ends up guarding against Stella’s powerful fist. Ouma is overwhelmed which reminds him of his devastating defeat by the Tyrant. Ouma tries to thrust his sword into Stella’s heart but she accepts it with her hand and catches him by his sword. Stella then launches an uppercut to his jaw that sends his over 400 kg body flying until he is down on the ground. It is really difficult for him to get back up due to having broken bones and burns in many places. However, he uses atmospheric pressure as cast for his broken bones and gets up with his fighting spirit. Ouma decides to put all of his remaining magic into one attack and challenges Stella with it, which she accepts. They attack with ‘Katharterio Salamandra’ and ‘Kusanagi’, and it ends with Stella’s attack overpowering Ouma’s attack and swallowing him. Stella is declared the winner as Ouma can’t fight anymore. Nene explains that not just the strong power she was born with, Stella’s strong will to continue to master her own power despite almost dying many times even when she was a kid was also the cause for her victory. Although, Nene claims that the cause for Stella’s victory was thanks to Nene herself for awakening Stella’s true power, and laughs while saying sorry for being a very famous coach. At the end of the chapter, Stella returns to her normal state and has advanced to the tournament final.

Chapter 13: Dark Clouded Semifinal 

Ikki, Touka and Kanata are discussing Ouma and Stella’s match right after it was over. They were amazed on how much stronger Stella got in such short amount of time and according to Ikki the difference in power between them is so great that even his speed advantage is gone now. But Ikki claims he also had gotten stronger and while watching the match he was thinking of ways to beat Stella. While waiting for the ring arena being repaired for the second semifinal match, Ikki goes to the room where Shizuku and Alice are recovering. As Ikki is about to enter, Shizuku and Alice open the door, surprising each other. Shizuku quickly hides her face with her clothes as shown in one of the pics. She apologizes for being weak and pathetic since she tried to stop Amane but ended up unable to do anything other than exposing such shame. Ikki instead thanks her for fighting for the prides of all the knights who had participated in the tournament and tells her that she is his prideful sister. Shizuku then cries in Ikki’s arm, and Ikki tells her that he will carry on her will and not let Amane mess up the tournament any further. Ikki says he didn’t have any plan but he had learned Amane’s true identity the day earlier, and he will definitely win.

The weather becomes cloudy with a black crow raising cries and looking down at the ring arena, making the scene look like it is giving out a bad omen. The audience wonders if Ikki will forfeit the match like Amane’s previous opponents did, but Ikki shows up in the ring arena. Shizuku and Alice have gone to watch the match and meet up with Stella. Stella asks if Shizuku feels better already and Shizuku replies that she had fully recharged after being hugged gently by Ikki. Kurono then shows up looking so tired after she was fixing the ring, and tells Stella not to cause so much destruction next time. But Alice says when Kurono was a student she was quite mischievous by doing things such as destroying things by making holes in space. Kurono then says Stella is allowed to act violently since it is her job to clean up the mess later. After both Ikki and Amane are in the ring arena, they are announcing the match about to begin. However, Amane stops the announcement before it can finish and says that he is thinking of abstaining from the match, shocking everyone in the venue. Amane claims that the reason for his decision is that he is doing it for everyone since they had suspected him of foul play and would not accept someone like that to win. He apologizes to Ikki that he is going to the final like this but because he is a big fan of Ikki he will ‘cheer for him during the final’. Stella becomes really angry hearing this. Ikki says Amane won’t really do something like that because he wants Ikki to feel suffering and frustration. Amane denies this and then Ikki immediately tells him to drop his stupid act and calls him ‘Shion Amamiya’. This causes Amane to stop smiling and triggering old memories.

Amane asks how Ikki knew that name since Amane’s past should have been erased when he joined Rebellion. Ikki says that Tsukikage told him about Amane’s past in order to provoke him into battle because it would be troubling for Akatsuki if Amane gave up the match. In the past, everyone believed all of Amane’s achievements were due to his ability and even when he helped someone in a disaster it was believed he was the cause of the disaster. As a result, no one would believe in his potential or would look at him, that it was all just nameless glory. After Ikki heard this, he realized immediately why he felt he had seen Amane before. It was because Amane’s past was very similar to Ikki’s past, which they both were neglected. Amane was jealous of Ikki since his accomplishments were acknowledged and so Amane decided to ruin everything Ikki would accomplish using ‘Nameless Glory’. In the end, Amane was just taking out his irritation on Ikki. He then tells Amane he doesn’t feel like fighting him and that he can do whatever he wants because Ikki and Stella’s match will not become low from being interfered by a spoiled child. Amane begins to laugh like a maniac and tells Ikki that he was right. Amane hates people who work hard and that there is no point in carrying out his plan to ruin Ikki’s match with Stella anymore since it has been exposed. Amane manifests his device and says he is interested in how Ikki will fight against ‘Nameless Glory’. Ikki also manifests his device and asks for the match to begin since Amane really took care of Shizuku.

As soon as the match starts, Amane is swinging his swords in a very messy way like an amateur. However, Stella can tell from a distance that the attacks are coming from directions that cause Ikki unable to counterattack. Kurono suspects that this is the work of ‘Nameless Glory’, that Amane is just using his feeling in swinging his swords and by ‘chance’ his swings are at angles most difficult for Ikki to deal with. As a result, Ikki is being pushed back and is forced to retreat. Amane then let go of his swords and pierce them into the ground. He manifests countless more swords and throws them into the air. Then, he throws two more swords which end up going around above the ring from ricochet, hitting the other swords like pinball. Some swords end up coming close to Ikki, which he then repel them off. However, the swords that get repelled end up hitting nearby swords and rebound back to Ikki. Though Ikki manages to dodge, the swords end up hitting other swords again. Amane adds more swords, resulting in more than 30 swords jumping around above the ring about to hit Ikki from many directions at the same time. Ikki tears off his outer clothes and uses it to stop the incoming swords. Amane couldn’t believe what had happened, and while he is in a confused state, Ikki attacks him and manages to wound him. Amane then switches to defense, wishing that he won’t get hurt though Ikki is able to keep pushing him back. Shizuku is confused about how Ikki is able to avoid the errors in his movements which ‘Nameless Glory’ could have caused. Kurono explains Amane’s ability is working but Ikki is just facing it head-on. Ikki just fixes every error he makes; turning his slipping feet into a circular motion slashing and scattering the load on a muscle that could get torn to other muscles. Ikki is able to do this almost instantly because the only thing in his mind is ‘going after Amane’s life’. He isn’t thinking about the errors that occur and keeps attacking by instinct or such, which becomes an ‘inevitability’ that Amane cannot avoid even with his power.

Ikki is then able to cut Amane’s arm, spilling blood on his clothes. Amane then withdraws his device, saying that he had enough and wants to end the match already. He tells Ikki to go die. Ikki then kneels on the ground feeling sick from his heart being stopped. Amane tells Ikki that if he admits that he can’t win against ‘Nameless Glory’ then Amane will let him surrender. Ikki refuses and so Amane gets close to Ikki and swings his sword down at him. However, Amane ends up bleeding a lot from being cut by Ikki and is down on the ground instead, shocking everyone. Amane is confused about how Ikki was able to move despite his heart stopped. Ikki says that he just moved his heart that stopped. Nene realizes and explains that Ikki used Edelweiss’ technique to act as a pacemaker so that it could automatically restart his heart when stopped. Ikki never received any damage when Amane told him to die. He was actually faking that his heart stopped and then he lured Amane who became defenseless from thinking that the fight was already over at that time. This was something that’s normally impossible and so ‘Nameless Glory’ didn’t help Amane because in the end it is an ability that changes cause and effect into his own convenience. Once Ikki was able to overcome ‘Nameless Glory’ taking his life, Amane’s defeat became inevitable at that point and ‘Nameless Glory’ gave in. Later, the referee declares Ikki as the winner since Amane is bleeding a lot on the ground and couldn’t get up. Amane can’t believe that Ikki was able to win without even a single injury and without using ‘Itto Shura’.

Amane then remembers his past, which he stopped going to school because no one there would recognize his achievements and kept doubting him. His mother, who raised him alone after she divorced his father when he was baby, told him it was okay as long as they became happy. Amane was happy with the affection his mother gave him but one day he started to have doubts and decided to stop using his ability just for the day. His home had been obtaining money from stock trading, and one day they ended up receiving debts due to an economic depression. Amane’s mother became furious and violent towards him, which made Amane realize that she only cared about his ability. After that his wishes wouldn’t come true like before since they were not something he wanted from the bottom of his heart, and as a result his mother’s anger increased. In addition to hitting him a lot, she also did things such as not feeding him, pouring boiled water on him and locking him up in a cage. After 6 months, his father rescued him by killing his mother but he told Amane to love him from now on, saying it with the same smile Amane’s mother put on when she asked him to make her happy. This made Amane understood that he himself was not really needed and then gave up on himself.

After Ikki is declared the winner, some people are disappointed and some are amazed that Ikki was able to win a perfect game where he didn’t receive any injury even though he was facing an opponent with such ridiculous ability. However, even though the match is over Shizuku and Stella have a bad feeling, which becomes clear when Ikki shouts, “watch out!!”. The referee who was checking on Amane’s condition is suddenly attacked by some dark magic aura in the shape of a ‘hand’ coming out of Amane’s body. Ikki manages to save him but part of the ring that the arm touches ends up crumbled as if due to weathering. Amane gets up, standing like a ghost/spirit and saying he won’t accept the outcome while shedding tears. Kurono and the other mage-knights guarding the venue are moving to stop Amane. However, Amane shouts at them to not interfere while releasing hundreds of those black ‘hands’ aiming at the audience. The audience panics but is protected by barriers deployed by the mage-knight staff. Some are confused why the places being touched by those ‘hands’ ended up decaying. Nene explains the way Amane’s ability is being used has changed and its compelling force has been enhanced. The process is no longer required and the black ‘hands’ just turn everything they touch into the outcome directly, which is ‘death’ in this case. Since Kurono and the others are busy protecting the audience, Nene decides to go stop Amane herself. However, Ikki says it’s not necessary because he will stop Amane. Ikki decides to go stop Amane himself because they can’t afford a single mistake that could harm the audience and in addition he can’t turn his back on an enemy that still wants to fight him even after receiving so many injuries. He tells Amane that he is finally showing a good face because he is finally letting out his feelings. Ikki had understood Amane’s feelings because he felt those things too in the past. However, Ikki had people like Ryouma, Shizuku, Stella and others while Amane did not. Ikki tells Amane to gather all his hatred and come at him and that “with his strongest, he will destroy his feeling of giving up”.

Ikki then invokes ‘Itto Shura’ and moves towards Amane while cutting the deadly ‘hands’ that are coming at him at the same time. Nene explains that Amane was not in control of ‘Nameless Glory’ before since the ways it caused the outcomes to occur were unknown and so Ikki had to face them head-on instead of dodging them. However, this time Amane is in control and so all Ikki has to do is reading his opponent’s thoughts which is something he’s very good at. As Ikki gets really close, Amane then manifests in both hands his swords which have the ‘death’ effect. Ikki should be able to strike down Amane because he swings his swords like an amateur. However, at the last moment Amane surprisingly is able to counterattack without his luck ability by tracing the movements he made so many times before with his ability and with his strong will to win. Amane is about to thrust Ikki but before the thrust can reach his skin, Ikki uses his second secret sword ‘Rekkou (rend armor)’. After receiving Amane’s right sword Ikki twists his lower body to do a point-blank slashing to prevent the thrusting from the left sword and strikes Amane down. Amane finally admits he had lost and is frustrated. Ikki tells him not to discard that feeling because it is proof that Amane still haven’t given up yet, which is the same thing a certain person told Ikki in the past. Amane couldn’t win against Ikki even with his ability, and so if he ever manages to win against Ikki then it will be by his own strength. Amane then realizes that Ikki was looking at him, and before he passes out he decides in his heart that someday he will reach his goal, which is Ikki. After it is over Shizuku goes to the waiting room where Ikki is. At first Shizuku thinks Ikki is sleeping due to the side effects of using ‘Itto Shura’, but she then realizes he is not breathing.

Intermission: A Very Late Arrival

Ikki had a cardiac arrest and is then rushed to the operating room. The doctors are having trouble saving him and it looks like the ‘death’ effect from Amane’s ability is the cause. According to Kurono, the deadly ‘hand’ probably grazed Ikki when he saved the referee and then the effect started from then. She also says it is not possible for her to return Ikki’s body back to its state before the game because the limit she could do on a human body is tens of seconds and no human body could withstand any more than that. Then, Kiriko shows up after hearing what had happened from Itsuki and tells everyone there to leave it to her.

Later, Nene visits Amane who is recovering in a hospital room. Amane asks about Ikki and Nene says that he is still in critical condition but the ‘White-robed Knight’ is treating him. Nene came to deliver a message from Kiriko which was, “I returned the favor from the first round, served you right”. Amane laughs and says that he couldn’t win against her and that everyone is strong. Nene says it is because Kiriko is a monster that might have received A-rank status and wouldn’t be overshadowed by people like Stella and Ouma if she had been doing knight activities more seriously. Nene also came to let Amane know that his punishment will be heavy but Amane accepts, though he later asks, like a sweet little girl, that they will give him a break. Nene says that she will intervene if he will rehabilitate and not interfere in the tournament final. Amane swears since he no longer has any reason to do it. Then, Nene leaves the room and runs into Tsukikage. He says he is there to visit his student at the hospital which makes Nene wonder if he is still planning to continue with his plan even though all of Akatsuki’s students have already been eliminated from the tournament. Nene then asks if his meeting with Ikki the night before the semifinal was so that Amane would participate in the match and win, or because he wanted Ikki to save Amane from the beginning. Tsukikage says he isn’t sure and he was just carrying out his job after all. Nene then says she figured that Tsukikage was able to find out about Amane’s hidden past using his ability and asks if that ability is related to why he, the Prime Minister, would be joining hands with terrorists. Tsukikage says the answer might come soon.

Ikki finally wakes up at night but then he realizes that it is the day the tournament final was supposed to happen. Ikki had received an email from Stella saying that she’s waiting in the ring arena, and runs towards there. Stella is there and says that she had been waiting all day, which makes Ikki realize that the tournament was already over. Ikki is frustrated but that is what Stella wanted to hear. All of a sudden, the lights are on and tens of thousands of people are there in the audience seats cheering. Ikki is confused and Kaieda, the head of the steering committee, explains that everyone was waiting for him to wake up. Everyone refused to let the tournament to be over without seeing the match between Ikki and Stella. Everyone who is there includes Shizuku, Alice, Touka, Kanata, Kanata, Moroboshi and the others he fought in the tournament, and seeing all this causes Ikki to tear up a little. Ikki and Stella then manifest their devices and hit them against each other as shown in the final pic. The volume ends with Kaieda declaring that the match will be held the next day at night.

Characters

 * Ikki Kurogane
 * Stella Vermillion
 * Ouma Kurogane
 * Amane Shinomiya
 * Nene Saikyo
 * Shizuku Kurogane
 * Nagi Arisuin
 * Tohka Todo
 * Kanata Totokubara
 * Yudai Moroboshi