Light Novel Volume 07

The seventh Light Novel volume of the series released on May 14, 2015.

Chapters
Intermission: A Victory Without Aftertaste

Ikki has defeated Jougasaki using Itto Rasetsu combined with Edelweiss’ technique. It took 0.8 seconds, which was a new record (previously it was 20 seconds). It was not really an overwhelming victory though because Ikki also predicted that he would lose in 23 moves if he didn't use his Noble Art. So, Ikki was forced to use 'Itto Rasetsu' against Jougasaki even though he was up against Sara next in the same day.

Chapter 8: The Rowdy Medical Room

While Ikki is recovering using a Capsule, the second round of matches continue with Shizuku going up against Momiji Asagi: the previous year’s 3rd place. Momiji is also a disciple of Nangou like Touka and Nene, and her attribute is fire. Momiji uses 'Trackless Step', the same movement technique that Touka used to overwhelm Shizuku. However, Shizuku had spread thin water throughout the entire arena and then uses the water’s waves and splashes to determine Momiji’s position. Shizuku wins by landing her 'Suiroudan' on Momiji which blocks her airway and suffocates her. The second round is over with all of Bukyoku's Top 3 called the Golden Generation eliminated from the tournament. Since Stella had already advanced to the semifinals, only 7 contestants are left as the tournament reaches the quarterfinals.

Sara had entered the sickbay where Ikki is resting in order to have him as her nude model. She figured Ikki would be too exhausted from using 'Itto Rasetsu' and before she can even reach Ikki’s clothes to undress him, she is caught by Stella who changed her mind about cooperating since Ikki really didn’t like it. Sara is tied up with bandages as shown in one of the pics, and Sara says it hurts so much because she has a weak body. Sara says she needs to complete her painting which has a blank space in the center for her to draw the Messiah and Ikki would be the perfect model. Sara then needs to go to the bathroom but Stella has a hard time of untying her, and Sara is feeling pain because the bandages have gotten tighter instead. Ikki then suddenly wakes up and while shocked asks them what they are doing since what is in front of him looks like a girl who is panting painfully from being tied up with bandages by his lover. Sara is able to get free from the bandages being cut and has headed for the bathroom outside. Ikki says he wouldn't hate Stella for being interested in such things and it would be okay for them to do it as lovers. Stella says it was a misunderstanding and Ikki says it was a joke. Ikki then pokes Stella’s pouted cheek with his finger and then caresses her cheek with his palm. Ikki says that Stella is like a cat which Stella happily replies with “Nyaa… ♥”.

While they are having a nice moment Ikki’s father suddenly appears, saying that his entrance seems to always have a bad timing, and shocking both Ikki and Stella. Stella introduces herself by doing a dogeza (kneeling on the ground), and says "tsumaranaimono desuga (I may be boring/worthless, but) please treat me well!" which should have started with "futsutsukamono desuga (I may be inexperienced)". Itsuki laughs a little as he remembers that Ikki did a similar thing before when he was practicing on greeting Stella’s father, which embarrasses Ikki. Itsuki came to tell Ikki that he is considering of officially severing family ties due to the reasons he had explained before which became more complicated now that Ikki had become one of the top 8 in the nation and that many people already know about him. This makes Stella angry but Itsuki thinks this proposition would benefit both sides. Itsuki says he is not in a hurry for an answer now and he can wait. After Itsuki had left, Ikki says he had thought about severing ties with his father before but he is not sure now because he just couldn’t end up hating his father. Sara returns and she overheard some of the conversations. She still insists on having Ikki as her nude model which Ikki keeps refusing. Then, Sara’s apron falls all of a sudden due to its strings breaking, exposing her huge breasts. Stella decides that they should go to a department store to buy new clothes for Sara, since it would be bad if Ikki's focus becomes dulled during the match because of such exposure.

Chapter 9: The Warriors' Slightly Boisterous Break

Ikki, Stella, and Sara are joined by Shizuku and Alice on their trip to the department store. Ikki contacted Alice for help in rousing Sara's interest in fashion because Alice is quite knowledgeable in that area. Alice says she doesn’t know much about Sara since the only people in Akatsuki he met were Hiraga and one of its teachers Wallenstein. Sara is wearing Stella’s jersey with the front zipper not fully closed, exposing some of her breasts as shown in one of the pics. No matter how many times she tried to close the zipper it would just open up on the chest area and Stella’s other clothes had buttons flew. Stella never felt this humiliation which is obvious because before there was no one as big as Stella’s, though Kanata is probably the only in Hagun Academy that could match her. Stella then becomes energetic again after looking at Shizuku though Shizuku asks where Stella was looking at. Then, they have arrived near the department store but are exhausted when exiting the bus they were on. They encountered a group of middle school students in the bus asking them for things such as signs and handshakes since the 4 of them made to the Top 8 of the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival. However more people appear because someone tweeted their location. Sara uses Color of Magic - Stone Gray of the Roadside to make her difficult to be noticed. Stella uses 'Flame Veil (heat haze curtain) and Shizuku uses 'Aoiro Genmu (blue fantasy)' to make them look invisible by bending light. Alice uses her shadow ability and Ikki uses 'Trackless Step' to slip through the crowd. They are inside the department picking out clothes for Sara. The first one Sara picks is a negligee which is almost see-through. Then she picks only a belt which she says she can use it to cover her breasts. The last one she picks is an apron which she argues is easy to wear and feels cooling. Alice then tells Sara (who she calls Lily) that she should make herself look cute so that she could make Ikki fall for her and then she can draw him as much as she wants.Stella says it’s fine if Sara makes a move on Ikki because Ikki’s heart will always belong to Stella.

Everyone has gone separate ways with Stella and Shizuku trying out yukatas as shown in one of the colored pics. Shizuku is actually helping Stella by telling her the proper etiquette when wearing a yukata which surprises Stella. Shizuku assures her she had accepted Stella and recognized her as Ikki’s lover. Shizuku also says she won't let the woman she recognized to lose to someone like Sara. Shizuku then asks Stella to let her help her to the point of calling Stella 'Onee-sama'. Stella then says they should work together to chase Sara away. Shizuku then hands over an outfit to Stella while saying that Stella will look the best wearing this in front of Ikki. In the meantime, Sara is with Alice looking at cosmetics. After Alice gives a lengthy lecture of cosmetics to Sara, they enter Alice’s ‘Shadow Spot (Hermit’s House)’ to try out some cosmetic samples they got for free. 'Shadow Spot' is a hidden room made using the space between the shadows and it also has water and gas available. In there, Alice asks why Sara, the famous painter Mario Rosso, would work for Rebellion. Sara says she didn’t join Rebellion, she was just paying back a debt. In order to complete her painting, she received surgery from the 'Grand Professor' for her illness so that she could travel all around the world searching for the ideal model and she also used their routes to search in conflict zones. She finally found her ideal model, which was Ikki. Sara is speaking fondly of Ikki and Alice wonders if she fell in love with Ikki at first sight, but she doesn’t understand well.

Everyone has finished buying what they wanted. Sara had bought and is currently wearing clothes that are even more revealing than before as shown in a pic because wearing more is too heavy for her weak body. Even so, the clothes and makeup she's wearing makes her look better than before. Ikki says Sara is pretty which causes her to be embarrassed. Stella shows up wearing a bunny suit as shown in one of the colored pics, thinking it would please Ikki. But Ikki instead tells her to put some clothes on and calls her 'Stella-san' and then 'Vermillion-san'. Stella realizes Shizuku tricked her, which made Shizuku laugh. Stella then runs away while crying in anger while Shizuku and Alice leave first. After changing back to her uniform, Stella returns with a baby sleeping in her arms. Sara and Ikki wonder about the baby and ask if Stella gave birth, which she denies. The baby just appeared out of nowhere in the women’s restroom. It was possibly due to the baby manifested an ability similar to Jougasaki’s and triggered it by accident. The baby is suddenly crying and Sara manages to calm the baby down in her arms. The baby is asking for some breast milk and Sara then exposes one of her breasts. The baby is sucking her breast and Sara says even if no milk is coming out it gives the baby some piece of mind. Sara then is singing a song to the baby which Stella recognizes it as an Italian lullaby. The baby and Stella then had gone to sleep. Sara hands the baby over to Ikki and starts drawing some pictures.

Sara then talks about her past which she says that initially she hated drawing. She lived in the middle of a mountain in Italy and spent a lot of her childhood in bed due to having brittle bone disease. Her father spent all his time on drawing a certain painting and Sara hated drawings for taking her father away from her. But then he died suddenly due to his chronic disease worsening. Sara then was going to destroy the painting out of hatred but she couldn’t do it. Her father gave his everything to paint it and Sara decided to finish it to understand him better. Sara’s father’s friend Kouzou Kazamatsuri was acquainted with the ‘Grand Professor’, one of the ‘Numbers (12 Apostles)’ of Rebellion, and asked the ‘Grand Professor’ to treat Sara with a huge debt. As a result, Sara finally had a body which she could move freely to some extent. She spent 10 years practicing her painting skill and traveling around the world looking for the ideal model for the unfinished painting. She did all this because she loved her father even though she never saw his face. Ikki then thinks about his relationship with his father and thanks Sara because she just helped him with a problem he was having. She tells him to be her model if that’s the case and Ikki says okay but with one condition. If Sara wins the match then Ikki would be her model but if she loses she will give up. Sara accepts the condition with strong determination in her, becoming a different person as shown in one of the pics. At the end of the chapter, the baby is returned to the mother and the three of them return back to the tournament venue.

Chapter 10: Seven Stars Sword Art Festival Third Round - Beginning

It is the start of the third round with the first match being the A-block final match between Ouma and Renji Kaga, Rokuzon’s ace. He is 236 cm tall and weighs 370 kg, and his nickname is ‘Panzer Grizzly’. He is the only one from the previous year’s Top 8 to reach this year’s Top 8 again. When he enters the arena, he tears his clothes away and reveals his loincloth which is his device 'Raiden'. He is a Blazer that possesses huge strength and he and Ouma knew each other 5 years back. He can change his skin into steel using his Noble Art 'Tekkai Henge (iron mass transformation)' and has a technique created in order to defeat Ouma called 'Tekkai · Ashurazou (iron mass · Asura form)' which the steel on his body can create new arms like he’s an Asura. Kaga attacks Ouma with hundreds of slaps called 'Ashura Hyakkashou (Asura hundred lotus palms)' with his multiple arms, but the attacks have no effect on Ouma who is not even dodging the palm strikes. Ouma then cuts off Kaga's arms and legs, and then uses his hand to pierce through Kaga’s body. Ouma has Kaga’s heart in his hand and then crushes it. The match is over and Kurono saves Kaga by using 'Clock Lock (time freeze)' which freezes Kaga's body’s passage of time. It is explained later that despite losing an organ Kaga should fully recover after being treated in a ‘capsule’. No one in the venue is giving Ouma any applause, except one person which is Stella. She understood that just cutting off Kaga’s limb might not have been enough for Ouma to win and so he went that far to ensure victory. Stella says to him that she will give everything she got during their match with killing intent, and Ouma replies that he's thinking the same thing.

Later, Stella meets with Rinna and Charlotte who decide to watch the next match together with her. Rinna says she came to watch Sara’s match since Sara is someone she signed a contract of blood and soul. Charlotte explains that Sara is now adopted by Rinna’s father and so they are step-sisters. Rinna didn’t expect Ikki to use his trump card during the second round but Stella believes that Ikki will win and reach the semifinal. Stella tells the Akatsuki members to be prepared because Ikki is ridiculously strong today. Just before his match starts, Ikki meets with his father. Ikki declines his father’s offer to cut off their family ties even though it would benefit both of them. But in the end, he is still Ikki Kurogane. Itsuki says since birth he was raised to carry out his duties and so he didn’t know any other way of life. As a result, he could never recognize Ikki’s accomplishments and that will never change. He asks if Ikki is okay with having a father like that and Ikki says yes. In the end what they have is a boring quarrel between father and son which is a quite common thing, and cutting off ties is not necessary. Itsuki then tells Ikki that he has become a big person. After hearing that praise from his father, Ikki heads for his match.

Sara and Ikki arrive in the arena. The commentators note that Sara looks very determined even though she never looked like that before in her previous matches, but so is Ikki despite unable to use his trump card in this match. Ikki thanks Sara because his relationship with his father is now better. Sara says it is not necessary since she only cares about the agreement they made. Ikki says he will keep his promise, but he will be the one to win, then the match starts. Sara first uses 'Color of Magic - Bright Yellow of Flash', which she spreads yellow paint in the air and creates blinding light that is like a flash bomb. While everyone is blinded, Sara uses ‘Purple Caricature’ to create the same Necro Battalion she used against Kuraudo. These ghosts fire their assault rifles at Ikki but miss because Ikki is using ‘Trackless Step’. Yaotome, one of the commentators, explains the only other people that could use ‘Trackless Step’ effectively like this are probably Nangou and Nene. Once the Necro Battalion changes their formation, Ikki gets close to them and takes them down one by one fast. According to Kaieda, the head of the tournament’s steering committee who is watching, the number of people in Japan who could reach this far with just martial arts skills alone wouldn’t even reach 5 people. After Ikki takes down the last one, Sara had already disappeared using the stone grey paint. But Ikki can tell where she is from the human-shaped void in the wave of the audience cheer's sound and so swings his sword towards it. But his blade is received by another blade held by someone who appears to be Edelweiss.

Sara creates a fake Edelweiss with almost all of her magic and believes that the clone can defeat Ikki as it is the only swordsman Ikki didn't win against. They clash swords and Ikki even without ‘Itto Shura’ is able to keep up with fake Edelweiss, who is not weaker than the real one he fought before, because he has become stronger after obtaining Edelweiss’ technique. Ikki then chases after fake Edelweiss who steps back, but he is then bleeding as if receiving countless slashes. It was due to Edelweiss’ sword slashes able to leave vacuum gap, creating vacuum slashes similar to Ayase’s Noble Art. Ikki is convinced that the fake Edelweiss before his eyes was much stronger than the one he had fought against. The Edelweiss back then was never serious until the last strike and was not seriously aiming for his life, but the one he is up against right now is seriously aiming for victory. Fake Edelweiss stabs her sword to the ground and Ikki immediately receives internal injury from vibrations caused by a move similar to Ikki’s sixth secret sword, ‘Dokuga no Tachi’, with the ring arena used as the conductor to send the vibrations from a distance. She then moves towards Ikki fast to attack him and once his guard is open she blows Ikki far away with a knee strike. Ikki rolls around the lawn outside the ring, crashes into the fence and lands on the top row of stairs between audience seats. However, Ikki manages to get back in the ring. Yaotome explains that Ikki had deliberately rolled around grandly in order to distribute the energy that could have caused the damage to his body into the ground. Yaotome also thinks there is no point to continue but Ikki says he wants to continue because he had already seen through that the limit of the fake Edelweiss. Sara thinks Ikki is bluffing because the fake one should have the exact same potential as the real thing, but he says to her that with his strongest (weakest) he will defeat that fake of hers.

The fake Edelweiss attacks again, but this time Ikki is able to dodge and pushes her back not just once but twice. Sara couldn’t believe what she just saw and wonders if this is Ikki using ‘Perfect Vision’, but Ikki says it wasn’t. Every Blazer only has one ability and even if it looks like they have multiple powers they actually trace back to just one ability which in Sara's case is to ‘materialize her own image’. Sara’s ‘Color of Magic’ could embody an image associated with the paint color used and ‘Purple Caricature’ could embody an image she drawn. In other words, her ability is not creating a fake that’s just like the real one, but to embody an illusion based on her own image. Sara might be able to accurately replicate Edelweiss’ physical capabilities, but there is no way she could replicate Edelweiss’ thought process. Only the outside was reproduced, with nothing on the inside. The fake would bite onto the slimmest opening she sees and so before she chose to kick Ikki towards outside the ring, but the real one wouldn't give him a chance to adjust his breathing from out of field countdown. Ikki opened his guard for a moment on purpose before in order to prove his hypothesis. Sara says it doesn’t matter because the fake Edelweiss still has the same specs as the real one, while Ikki’s swordplay is an imitation. Ikki says she is wrong that you would win by having stronger force and then fake Edelweiss closes in towards Ikki. Fake Edelweiss swings down her sword towards Ikki’s head and right at that moment Ikki swings his sword using the highest instant speed together with 'Raikou' with both his hands. Ikki's single-sword style fell short in number of strikes compared to Edwelweiss' twin-sword style, but each of his strike's power and speed should be above hers as she could only swing her swords with a single arm. Thus Ikki has the upper hand if he would just limit it to the first strike, before Edelweiss’s consecutive strikes start. The moment fake Edwelweiss' blade hits Ikki’s scalp and about to cut through his skull, Ikki's blade cuts the fake Edelweiss' body horizontally, turning the illusion back to paper waste. Even if it was the world strongest, it was still an illusion created by a painter that never held a sword before. Ikki had spirit, technique and body, and so he would not lose to a fake that lacked two of them.

Sara doesn’t have enough magic power left to create another fake Edelweiss. But she refuses to give up as she remembers that if she loses she will unable to have Ikki as her model and thus unable to complete her father's painting. Sara then uses ‘Purple Caricature’ to create 4 Ikki clones. Ikki immediately cuts down one of the fakes who had just invoked ‘Itto Shura’, and then takes down the others after. This was due to Ikki knowing his own strengths and weaknesses, and so he wouldn’t lose to even four clones of him that were created rashly and halfheartedly. While Ikki is taking down the last clone, Sara creates a 3 meter-tall bloody gladiator called ‘Mario Rosso’ with her last bit of magic. The image she drew is the shape of her soul, and Sara declares it's a showdown. Ikki jumps and launches ‘Saigeki’ on ‘Mario Rosso’s’ forehead, but his sword doesn't even pierce the gladiator's skin. ‘Mario Rosso’ swings his sword and Ikki blocks it with ‘Intetsu’. Ikki is blown away to the ground and ‘Intetsu’ ends up soaring in the sky. He rolls around to minimize the damage but his arms are crushed that he can’t hold his sword anymore. ‘Mario Rosso’ approaches the place where Ikki is and swings his sword down at Ikki. But ‘Mario Rosso’ bleeds heavily instead because that place is the where the fake Edelweiss created the vacuum distortion that could cut before and Ikki intentionally lured the gladiator there. Ikki then dives under the vacuum distortion and dashes to catch ‘Intetsu’ that fell from the sky with his teeth. He then stabs Sara’s abdomen with his sword in his teeth, and she falls along with ‘Mario Rosso’ turning back to paper waste.

Ikki wins, but Sara says she couldn’t protect the promise they made because she won’t give up on her passion and Ikki says what a hopeless person she is. As Sara is losing consciousness, she thinks about how envious she is of Stella and that if she will fall in love someday, she would want it to be with someone like Ikki. Rinna can’t believe that Sara had lost even though she was able to reproduce Edelweiss' power after witnessing it directly during the 'major cleanup' Edelweiss conducted in the Middle East. Charlotte explains an advantage single-sword style has over twin-sword style during a single hit. Stella who had watched the match trembles after seeing Ikki's tactic of using his own head as a shield which Edelweiss' slash is slowed down even a little when it hits Ikki's skull. She shivers at the horror of Ikki who had refined himself through countless disadvantageous battles, but at the same time trembling from joy as the moment of bliss with her most beloved rival is near.

Intermission: Bloody End

Next is the D-block final match between Shizuku and Amane. After receiving first-aid treatment, Ikki meets with Stella so that he can watch Shizuku's match. They wonder if Shizuku can win even though she said she had a secret plan. Ikki notices Alice is not around and Stella says she hasn't been able to find her either. Even though an announcement had been made, Amane and Shizuku still haven’t shown up into the ring arena which gives Ikki a bad feeling. The huge monitor in the venue displays the waiting room to check if they are there. The volume ends with the monitor displaying Shizuku being crucified to a wall by countless swords as shown in the volume’s last pic and Ikki screaming her name while a laugh is heard.

Characters

 * Ikki Kurogane
 * Stella Vermillion
 * Shizuku Kurogane
 * Sara Bloodlily
 * Rinna Kazamatsuri
 * Alice

Translation
Baka-Tsuki: https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Rakudai_Kishi_no_Eiyuutan:Volume7