Gakusen Toshi Asterisk - Volume 15 - Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 
THE SEMIFINALS I 
“What are you doing here?” Julis asked in a voice so cold and low that it surprised even herself. 
Standing in front of her, across the stage, was none other than Ayato. 
“Answer me!” 
“…Julis.” Ayato, however, merely stared back at her pensively. 
“Here we go! The last three matches of this unprecedented Lindvolus! And from our four remaining contestants, three not only hail from Seidoukan, but they’re all members of the same team that conquered last year’s Gryps! It’s no exaggeration to say that we’ve reached a golden age for Seidoukan!” 
“Jie Long and Gallardworth have both had long runs of success, so I think we’ll all be watching next year to see whether Seidoukan can keep it up.” 
“And it doesn’t end there! As I’m sure everyone already knows, in this first semifinal we’ve got the Murakumo, Ayato Amagiri, facing off against the Glühen Rose, Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld, joint champions at the last Phoenix! Either one of them could become the second person in history to score a grand slam! It’s a shame that one of them will have to end their journey here today!” 
“According to my data, these two fought in a duel on Ayato’s first day in Asterisk, but it didn’t end in a clear result. That happened more than two years ago, so it doesn’t really tell us much about this matchup. In general, I would say that Ayato Amagiri has the advantage—” 
Neither the live commentary echoing through the stage nor the deafening cheers of the crowds reached Julis. 
All of that was completely irrelevant today. 
Both her and Ayato’s microphones were switched off, so there wasn’t any risk of them being overheard. 
“I heard that your sister isn’t in danger anymore. You shouldn’t need to stay in the tournament.” 
Elliot had already told her he had successfully destroyed the fragment of the Raksha-Nada that had been embedded in Haruka’s body. As such, she had firmly believed, right up until the moment when he had stepped out of the gate, that Ayato would forfeit the match. 
“I didn’t take you for the kind of person who would chase after the glory of a grand slam. And if that’s what you want, I don’t have any right to blame you… But the least you could do is tell me why you’re here.” 
At Julis’s piercing glare, Ayato’s expression gradually softened. “So I was right… You were the one who asked him.” 
“…” 
Julis remained silent. 
Elliot had agreed not to identify her to Ayato and the others, but Julis had known from the beginning that they would all suspect it was she who had asked him to help Haruka. Given that only a small number of people knew about her situation, that was only natural. 
Nonetheless, the real reason why Julis still wouldn’t admit to it was her sense of guilt. 
She of course wanted to help Haruka, but if Ayato knew for certain that it was she who had helped her, he would undoubtedly feel himself bound by obligation to withdraw from the tournament. For Julis, the thought of him thanking her in that way, even if it was the outcome that she hoped for, was unbearable. 
Still, he bowed his head to her with gratitude. “Thank you, Julis. You saved Haruka’s life.” 
That straightforward honesty of his was nothing short of excruciating. 
“…Won’t you answer me, Ayato?” Julis asked again, without acknowledging his gesture. 
Perhaps having finally caught on to her feelings, Ayato’s expression went stern once again. “Before that, I want to ask you something. Depending on the answer, I don’t mind forfeiting here and now.” 
“What?” 
“Julis… Are you really going to try to kill Orphelia Landlufen?” 
“!” She winced at those words. “How do you…?” She stopped there before she could reveal too much, but it was too late. 
She had practically just admitted to it. 
“…You are, aren’t you?” Ayato asked, his voice muted as he stared across the stage at her. 
“…Yes.” Seeing no alternative, Julis nodded in confirmation. 
If she tried to deceive him, Ayato would no doubt see through her right away. After all, he had been her partner and teammate for more than two years. She couldn’t lie to him. 
“In that case, I have to stop you.” 
“Even if I’m doing it for something important, something that I can’t give up at any cost?” 
“I’ll still have to stop you.” 
“…I thought you would say that.” 
She understood his motives. She would just have to accept his resolve. 
After all, Ayato was that kind of person. 
“Tell me who told you, at least.” 
“…Last night I got a call from Lamina Mortis.” 
“Lamina Mortis…?” 
She had no idea what that mysterious figure was planning, but as she had suspected, Orphelia seemed to be involved, caught up in it in one form or another. 
Nonetheless, she still had to do what she had to do. 
Ayato’s complexion had turned pale. “Julis, if you could just tell me why you’re doing all this, and let me help—” 
“Sorry, but I can’t.” Julis shook her head. 
She was grateful to him for his infallible kindness, but since Orphelia had asked her and only her, she couldn’t let anyone, not even him, interfere. If she did, she knew the result would be disastrous. 
At the very least, if she defeated Ayato here, she wouldn’t have to worry that she had put Haruka’s life in jeopardy. Now, she could fight him with that burden lifted from her shoulders. 
She would be the only one to lose someone important. 
“If you plan to stop me, then come, Ayato. I’m going all out,” Julis declared, activating her Rect Lux. 
“…If that’s how you want to do it,” Ayato responded, activating his Ser Veresta. 
Not a moment later, the signal for the match to start sounded through the arena. 
  
The previous night, Eishirou had returned to their shared room just as Ayato was about to go to sleep. 
“Ah, what a pain in the neck…” 
Eishirou’s tone was as frivolous as ever, but the bags under his eyes and his sunken cheeks made it clear that he was exhausted. 
“I haven’t seen you in a while, Eishirou. You look pretty tired.” 
“What can I say, Being the prez’s errand boy is tough work. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. And her mom, well, she works you to the bone…” With that, Eishirou flopped facedown onto his bed. 
From what Ayato had gathered, Eishirou seemed to be investigating the Golden Bough Alliance not as a member of Shadowstar but working directly under Claudia and Isabella. Not only did his tasks require absolute secrecy, it probably went without saying that it was an added burden on him not being able to rely on the assistance of his Shadowstar colleagues. 
“I hear the problem with Haruka has been resolved. That’s one more thing taken care of, huh?” 
“Yes, thanks to everyone’s help.” 
“Heh, I guess that means you’ll be giving up tomorrow’s match. All those fans looking forward to seeing you face off against the princess will be disappointed, though, huh?” Eishirou broke out into a laugh, his shoulders shaking with amusement at the thought. 
“Whatever Julis’s plan is, I can’t get in her way… She’s certainly dead set on it enough.” 
“If I had the time and energy, I might look into it for you, but you know…” 
“You’ve got your own duties, Eishirou. Don’t worry about me,” Ayato replied. He was grateful, however, for the offer. “Anyway, this will let me focus on the Golden Bough Alliance. I can probably take a bit of the burden off your shoulders, too.” 
“Heh, thanks. So I guess you’ve already got permission to drop out, then?” 
“That’s… Claudia’s looking after that, but I guess it hasn’t been granted yet.” 
Claudia would have contacted him if his request had been accepted. The night was already growing late, though, and he was starting to get worried. From what he gathered, the process was quite complicated. 
“Well, it’s not like you’re too beat up to put up a decent fight, and it’s got to be one of the hottest matches. It’s only natural that management would drag their heels. Maybe not so much for Sasamiya, though.” 
Indeed, Saya’s arms were both badly injured. She had gone to the hospital immediately after her last match, but it sounded like she could hardly move her right arm at all. 
Ayato still hadn’t heard whether she would enter her semifinal match tomorrow. 
If, assuming the worst, she was to forfeit, there was a possibility that the semifinals would be canceled entirely. The Festa Executive Committee no doubt wanted to avoid that possibility at all costs. 
And then, of course, there was the fact that it was Madiath Mesa—who under his disguise as Lamina Mortis had blackmailed Ayato into entering the tournament in the first place—who was the head of the Executive Committee. He couldn’t be expected to give up quite so easily. 
“Even if they want to hold off, if I just don’t go tomorrow, there won’t be anything they can do about—” 
Before Ayato could finish his sentence, his pillow began to vibrate. His mobile had an incoming call. 
The caller was using a private number. 
Suspicious, he opened an air-window to answer it and was met by a familiar voice: “It’s been a while. I don’t suppose I could have a minute of your time?” 
“…Lamina Mortis!” Ayato cursed to himself. 
At this, Eishirou’s eyes shot wide open. “Hey, hey, you’ve gotta be kidding me…!” 
“I should congratulate you on making it to the semifinals. Fuyuka Umenokouji was a formidable opponent. It does appear that you’ve mastered the Ser Veresta.” 
“…What do you want, Mortis? Or should I say, Madiath Mesa?” 
He could hear it clearly now: Mortis’s voice, his way of speaking, was identical to Madiath’s. It was almost bewildering that he had failed to recognize it for so long. 
I guess there mustn’t be any mental interference… 
Perhaps the Varda-Vaos couldn’t use her abilities through the medium of an air-window? 
“Hmm? What are you talking about?” 
Nonetheless, Lamina Mortis—Madiath Mesa—feigned confusion. He should have known that Ayato wouldn’t be under the effect of any mental interference if he called him like this, so the only plausible explanation was that he must have done so intentionally. 
“That aside, I have one request. I hear that you want to drop out of your match tomorrow… I want you to reconsider.” 
“No,” Ayato refused outright. “I thought you would have noticed. We’ve removed the shard of the Raksha-Nada that you left in Haruka’s body. You can’t threaten us anymore.” 
“Oh yes. Indeed, you and your sister have caused quite a stir. Thanks to you, my—or rather, Chairman Mesa’s program has been thrown into disarray.” Madiath paused there, trailing off into a small laugh. 
“…Stop messing around.” 
“No, no, I’m being serious here. After all, you’ve made it necessary for Chairman Mesa to push forward his disappearance.” 
“What…?” 
Was he planning to escape? 
Ayato already knew that Haruka and Helga were on the verge of apprehending him, but if Madiath were to flee now, they would lose everything they had to work from. 
Ayato glanced toward Eishirou, who promptly nodded in tacit understanding and headed for the door. Their first priority right now had to be to inform Helga. 
“Incidentally… Are you aware of Miss Riessfeld’s tragic intentions?” 
“Huh…?” Ayato was taken by surprise at this sudden change in topic. “What are you talking about?” 
“She means to slay Miss Orphelia on the stage of the Lindvolus.” 
“What…?” 
“Oh, it’s a terrible plight! She may escape accusations of foul play if she does it during a match, but just think how deeply it will scar her fragile heart to murder her dear friend! If you call yourself her friend, too, you should put a stop to this appalling act of violence before it’s too late.” Despite his words, Madiath’s tone of voice was mocking. 
“…Do you really expect me to believe that?” 
“Of course, you can believe whatever you want… But don’t you think you should at least ask her yourself first?” 
This was clearly an underhanded move on Madiath’s part. 
Even if Ayato were to call her now, it was unlikely Julis would answer. He would have to go to the venue in person if he wanted to learn the truth. 
“Either way, shouldn’t you check with her before you decide to withdraw? If you don’t, you’ll lose any chance you had of stopping her.” 
“Ngh…!” Ayato bit his lip in frustration. 
As much as he hated admitting it, Madiath was right on that point. At the very least, he couldn’t think of any other option that would allow him to drop out. 

“…Why is she doing this?” 
“Why?” 
“She must have a reason. She wouldn’t go that far without good cause… And even with one, she would never want that.” 
“Indeed… I can’t tell you the reason, but that’s how things stand. It all comes down to Miss Orphelia’s mercurial character.” Madiath paused for a moment in thought before continuing: “All I can say is that Miss Orphelia chose her. It was a foolish and, not to say, meaningless act of sentimentalism…but I can relate to that. And I won’t deny her the attempt. I don’t have the faintest interest in Miss Riessfeld, but when it comes to her purpose now, she and I are two of a kind. As far as she’s concerned, she’s carrying the whole world on her shoulders.” 
Madiath was clearly skirting around the point. He evidently didn’t have any intention of answering the question. 
But if he was this well-informed, he must know Orphelia pretty well, Ayato deduced. Was she connected to the Golden Bough Alliance in some way? 
“Well, then… I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s match. Do your best.” And with that, Madiath hung up. 
Gritting his teeth, Ayato immediately dialed Claudia’s number. 
He had to cancel his application to withdraw from the tournament at once. 
  
“Lindvolus Semifinals, Match 1—begin!” 
As soon as the match got underway, Ayato rushed forward, but Julis quickly deployed her Rect Lux at the midpoint between them. 
“Bloom—Loropetalum!” 
A huge wall of flame erupted from the ground, blocking Ayato’s path. It was the same technique she had used to divide the stage during their tag match against Jie Long in the Phoenix. 
With a slash of the Ser Veresta, Ayato broke through that flaming barrier almost thirty feet tall—but before he could cross over it, Julis had already deployed her next area ability. 
“Bloom—Gloriosa!” 
Just as he realized that a magic circle had appeared under his feet, a claw of roiling flame arced to catch him in its grip. It was the kind of multilayered trap ability that Julis specialized in. 
Ayato, having anticipated a technique like this, stood still, slashing through that burning claw with the Ser Veresta. 
Julis, however, used that time to put considerable distance between the two of them. 
Several small wings of flame had emerged from her feet, carrying her swiftly away. 
Strelitzia Minor—the same acceleration technique she had used in her match against Xiaohui Wu. 
“And we’re off to a bang! Just look at that flashy combination of offense and defense! Contestant Amagiri may have made the first move, but Contestant Riessfeld’s flame abilities are keeping him at bay! How does this look to you, Zaharoula?” 
“Ayato Amagiri naturally wants to engage her in close combat. Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld…well, she’s no slouch in close quarters, either, but she isn’t at Ayato Amagiri’s level. It looks like her right arm is broken as well. That being the case, she probably wants to keep as much distance as possible. Things might be going her way for now, but I wonder how long she can keep it up… They both know each other’s strategies and techniques, so I doubt this will have a simple conclusion.” 
Right. Just as Zaharoula had observed, Ayato knew Julis’s skills, but she knew all his. If he hadn’t kept his guard up a moment ago, he would have found himself at the mercy of the same kind of long-range bombardment that had characterized Saya’s match against Lenaty. 
But both he and Julis had grown since they had last fought alongside each other. 
Even he was amazed by how much her techniques had evolved when he saw her fight against Xiaohui Wu. If he was going to have any chance at all, he would have to pay particular attention to those poison flames that she’d developed. 
And at the same time, she was no doubt watching out for his new tricks. 
“Let’s go, Ser Veresta.” 
The Orga Lux trembled as if answering his call before floating free from his hand. 
Then it took off, carving ferociously through the air toward Julis. 
“Tch…!” 
Julis deactivated her Rect Lux, only barely managing to dodge the blow. She understood that if the Orga Lux had scored a direct hit, it would have burned clean through her weapon. 
“Here it is! Contestant Amagiri’s long-distance control over his Orga Lux from his last match! Contestant Riessfeld doesn’t seem to be able to defend against it!” 
“Ayato Amagiri has a huge advantage, being able to use his Amagiri Shinmei style techniques at a distance. But it looks to me like they’re not as effective as when he uses them himself.” 

She had done it again and again throughout the tournament, but Zaharoula’s keen discernment never failed to leave Ayato perplexed. 
Indeed, he might have been able to freely move the Ser Veresta at range, but there was no denying that its speed and accuracy took a hit compared to when he wielded it in hand. After all, one’s swordsmanship was essentially built on a mastery over one’s own body through long training. 
Nonetheless, Julis, he suspected, wouldn’t be able to keep dodging it for long. 
And yet, she was doing precisely that—managing to escape from the Ser Veresta’s every blow seemingly at the last opportunity. 
Ayato suspected there were two reasons for that. 
The first was that her reaction speed was above and beyond what it had been before. She must have put herself through an arduous training regimen to develop so far so quickly. 
And the second— 
“An illusion? Impressive, Riessfeld.” 
Once again, Zaharoula was quick to realize the distinctive way in which Julis was moving, her figure almost flickering. 
It was probably the same technique that Xiaohui Wu had used. That would explain why his blows never managed to reach her. Normally, however, such visual tricks wouldn’t have been enough to fool him, as the Amagiri Shinmei style’s perception-expanding technique of shiki would have seen right through it. 
Julis, however, was putting a lot more into the deception than most people would. The state of shiki made use of all five senses, including sight, sound, and smell, along with detecting minute movements in the air and atmosphere, but Julis’s illusion was working on all those levels. 
Even so, he should have been able to pinpoint her if he could increase the precision of his enhanced senses, but to do that, he would have to get closer—if he did that, though, there would be no need to rely on long-range attacks. 
“Don’t underestimate me, Ayato! Burst into bloom—Primrose Multiflos!” 
With a downward swing of the Nova Spina, Julis unleashed several dozen fireballs at him. 
“Guh…!” 
It wasn’t possible to avoid this many of them. 
Ayato focused his prana into his fists in the same way as Jie Long’s martial artists, catching those projectiles with his bare hands. 
The power of the fireballs exploding on impact was simply incomparable to what he remembered. But even so, it wasn’t too much for his heightened defenses to withstand. Protecting only his school crest, he guarded against and intercepted one blow, then another. 
“You’re not taking much damage, huh…? First, Xiaohui Wu, then you—I just can’t catch a break…!” 
“That was strong enough, believe me,” Ayato replied as he caught the Ser Veresta, returning to a defensive stance. 
Technically, he couldn’t say he had escaped without damage. The shock of the repeated impacts had been intense, and his skin was burned in places. 
He would have been able to disperse most of those fireballs with the Ser Veresta if he hadn’t cast it across the stage. He would have to keep it close if he wanted to avoid the same kind of attack again. 
“Contestant Amagiri has recalled the Ser Veresta!” 
“It’s a risky move, but the Ser Veresta is better tuned for defense rather than offense against Stregas and Dantes. If its user has Ayato Amagiri’s skill, that is.” 
That may have been so, and yet… 
He wanted to settle the match as quickly as possible—not because he thought Julis was an easy opponent but precisely because he thought so highly of her skills and abilities. While luck may also have played a part in it, the fact that she had prevailed against Xiaohui Wu, whose raw prowess undoubtedly surpassed her own, was proof of the potential of her keen sense of tactics and her diverse set of abilities. If Ayato let the match get drawn out too long, she would no doubt end up ensnaring him in a similar trap. On the other hand, haste had its own risks. If he wasn’t careful, she would trip him up when he least expected it. 
That being the case, he didn’t have many options. 
“…I guess it can’t be helped,” he sighed, resigned. 
As much as it would hurt Julis, he had to fight to win. 
“Hmm…?” It seemed she had instantly noticed his change in stance. Staring back at him with suspicion, Julis stepped forward, bringing down the Nova Spina once more. 
“Burst into bloom—Amaryllis!” 
It was her most well-known move and highly effective. 
“Bloom!” 
She channeled her mana and prana through the fixed junction pattern of her Rect Lux, amplifying the blast as it sped toward him. 
Nonetheless, Ayato cut straight through that huge petal of fire with a single, perfectly timed slash. 
“…Hrng!” 
Julis frowned in disbelief, but quickly sped across the stage with the help of her Strelitzia Minor to move into her next technique. 
“Burst into bloom—Livingston Daisy!” 
A dozen disks of roiling flame swooped down all at once, but Ayato cut through them all with a brilliant flash of the Ser Veresta. 
“Guh—!” 
At the same time, Ayato slowly began to approach his opponent, closing the distance to her one step at a time. 
He couldn’t afford to rush. Whenever Julis attacked, he would meet the strike with the Ser Veresta and proceed slowly but steadily forward, always keeping an eye open for traps or other abilities as he narrowed the range in which she could operate. 
In short, it was a straightforward frontal attack. 
No matter how powerful her techniques, Strega abilities simply couldn’t surpass the innate power of an Orga Lux in raw potential. And as long as he kept his wits about him, his reaction time was more than enough to evade any traps she might set. 
Whatever strategies she took, they wouldn’t pose a significant threat if he could just carefully take stock of them one by one. 
To be honest, it was a rather boring tactic but nonetheless sound. 
“Ayato…! How about this, then…?!” Julis gritted her teeth, repositioning the Nova Spina. 
The mana in the air around her began to ripple as a flaming vortex began to manifest around her. 
“Burst into bloom—Bequaertii!” 
The burning whirlpool contracted, compressing into a child-size figure. 
In total, six puppetlike figures were born from the flames. 
“Go!” 
With that order, the puppets launched directly at him. 
They were fast. Ayato’s eyes opened wide in shock. 
Their movements were elegant and precise, like the steps of a dance, but they didn’t seem to be particularly developed in technique. 
“Heh, I based this move on your match against Fuyuka Umenokouji!” Julis declared. 
“What…?” 
In other words, she had created it from scratch in the span of a single day. 
Ayato couldn’t help but be impressed. 
He brought the Ser Veresta around, moving to sweep them aside, but the fiery puppets deftly slid out of the way. 
“Oops…” 
One of them, moving toward him to take advantage of the opening that his missed strike had produced, slammed into him with all the force of a punch by one of Jie Long’s martial artists. 
He took a step back to draw away, but the puppets flowed after him in pursuit. This new technique was more impressive than he had first assumed. 
“I thought it was a clever idea, what Fuyuka Umenokouji did, creating something stronger than herself to fight for her. I might not be able to put together a shikigami like Gigoku in the span of a single day and night, but these puppets are better close-range fighters than I am, don’t you think?” 
“…I see.” 
Ayato had to admit, the puppets were certainly strong in and of themselves, but they weren’t possessed of free will as Fuyuka’s shikigami had been. These creatures were merely imitating certain moves and techniques, although they were clearly modeled on a very proficient fighter. 
Nonetheless— 
“Amagiri Shinmei Sword Style, Hidden Technique—Tearaway!” 
With a powerful diagonal slice, Ayato carved the first figure to leap within range from shoulder to hip. As he swung around, he destroyed the next one—and moving sideways to avoid a kick from behind, he countered the next. Spinning around, he beheaded the next two coming his way before plunging his blade directly into the abdomen of the final figure. 
That made all six of them. 
“Ugh…!” Julis fell back a step, her expression one of disbelief. 
The true value of the Amagiri Shinmei style was in melee combat, when one fighter found themselves confronting countless enemies. So long as he remained calm, he wouldn’t fall behind a group of puppets lacking in free will. 
“It—it’s not over…!” 
Julis continued to unleash one technique after another. Swords of flame, lances of fire, waves of heat, fireballs, burning birdlike apparitions, and countless molten projectiles came flying toward him, but Ayato avoided each and every one of them. Against such techniques, the Ser Veresta was nothing short of overwhelming. 
Such a futile stream of abilities could hardly continue forever. 
“Burst into bloom—Antirrhinum Majus!” 
Ayato swung the Ser Veresta downward, mercilessly dissecting Julis’s fiery dragon clean in two. 
Finally, he had her cornered at the edge of the stage. 
“A-amazing! What strength! Contestant Amagiri just keeps cutting through everything Contestant Riessfeld throws at him!” 
“That’s the Ser Veresta for you, but that isn’t the whole story. Only Riessfeld’s most powerful techniques hold a chance of damaging Amagiri, but those moves are easy for him to read and counter. But if she tries to use nimbler, less wide-ranging attacks, they don’t hold much chance of breaking through his defenses. I’ve got to say, she’s in a tough place.” 
Julis, her back to the protective barrier encasing the stage, glared toward Ayato, her breathing ragged. “Seriously… You’ve chosen a nasty way to break my heart, Ayato.” 
“…Sorry,” he apologized. 
“I guess it can’t be helped. This is what I get for taking a reckless, straightforward strategy against you. You’re obviously stronger than I am… I suppose if Xiaohui Wu hadn’t been savoring the fight, that match would have ended this way, too.” 
Ayato was only half a step away now. 
Nonetheless, Julis hadn’t given up. That glimmer in her eyes told him she would keep going until the very last. 
Whatever he did, he couldn’t rush this. 
Having gotten this far, he couldn’t blow the whole thing by throwing caution to the wind now. 
“I always knew it… But it’s still so frustrating.” Julis paused, biting her lip so hard she drew blood. 
“If…if this was just a normal semifinal match or a duel, I would have fought differently,” Ayato admitted. 
“A duel, huh…? Heh, I miss those good old days. It feels like so long ago now, back when you transferred here.” Her voice was small, lonely. 
“Julis, let me ask you again. Why are you doing this? You must have a good reason…” 
“You’re stubborn. I told you, I can’t answer that question. Even if you knew, there’s nothing you could do.” 
“…I can beat Erenshkigal,” Ayato replied flatly. 
Orphelia was certainly powerful—easily the strongest fighter in the tournament, judging from the matches so far. But even so, Ayato had the Ser Veresta. He hadn’t fully realized it back when he encountered her in Lieseltania, but with the Orga Lux, he would be able to cut through her poisons and miasma. 
“You could. You’re stronger than me, and you’ve got the Ser Veresta. You could beat her.” 
“In that case—” 
“But that isn’t enough. Just winning isn’t enough.” Julis’s eyes gleamed precariously, filled to the brim with desperation and determination. 
Ayato once again sensed the weight of whatever she was bearing. 
But even so, he couldn’t let her go through with it. 
He understood how much his friend cared about Orphelia, how important she was to Julis. But no matter what her reason, if she were to do that to someone she cared so much about, it would be too much for her heart to endure. 
“If you really, really need it, let me—” 
“…What?” At that moment, Julis’s glare turned indignant. “What are you trying to say?” Her rage, her fury, was stronger now than Ayato had ever seen before. “Don’t you… Don’t you even dare! How could you?! You—how could…?!” Tears began to spill from Julis’s eyes. 
“Julis…” 
“Yes, Orphelia is my friend! She’s irreplaceable! I’d rather die than hurt her! But don’t you understand, Ayato?! You are, too! You’re just as important to me!” Julis howled, tears running down her cheeks, her expression tinged with raw anger. “You’ve got to understand, Ayato! I—I love you…! And I couldn’t let my dearest friend take the life of my best friend…!” 
It was a desperate plea, wrung out from Julis’s bare heart. 
Ayato couldn’t help but feel ashamed by everything he had said. 
“…I’m sorry, Julis,” he apologized again. 
Julis wiped at her tears with her arm before directing her bloodred gaze back toward him. “No, it’s unforgivable. But you’ve opened my eyes. It was foolish of me to think I could hold back against you.” 
Julis broke into a dauntless smile as she deployed her Rect Lux around her. 
At the same instant, the mana around her began to writhe and blur. 
“!” 
Sensing a sudden and unfamiliar tension, Ayato leaped backward to put some distance between himself and her. 
This feeling… What’s going on…? 
“If I lose here, it will all be over. So I’ll put everything I’ve got into this. Even if I exhaust all my power today, I’ll finish what I have to!” 
As Julis spoke, countless pale-blue flames had begun to emanate from around her. 
Behind her, a great flower was unfurling, its petals like pure white wings. 
“Watch this, Ayato. For the twelve seconds until this blossom withers—I am the strongest fighter in the world.” 
With that declaration, the flower behind her burst into bloom. 
“Bloom—Moonlit Beauty!” 
And with that, Julis disappeared. 
“!” 
Strictly speaking, she hadn’t disappeared. Ayato’s eyes simply couldn’t locate her. 
In a split second, she leaped into his range, using the arm he had thought was broken and striking out with the flat of her hand, leaving him no time to evade or defend. 

The impact threw him backward across the stage. Somehow, the blow was even more powerful than Gigoku after merging with all its fellow shikigami. 
“Guh…!” 
By the time he had risen to his feet, Julis, her posture and bearing vaguely aloof, was pointing the end of the Nova Spina right at him. 
“Burst into bloom—Amaryllis!” 
An unbelievably large mass of mana began to writhe and squirm, with a huge pale-blue fireball appearing before her. The scale was completely incomparable to what had come earlier. 
“Tch…!” 
Ayato sliced through the gigantic ball of flame with a decisive stroke of the Ser Veresta but was immediately enveloped in a tremendous explosion. This time, the force of the blast hurled him hard onto the ground. 
Frankly speaking, he had no idea what had just happened. 
This new technique—this Moonlit Beauty—seemed to enhance Julis’s strength, skills, and abilities. But such techniques weren’t particularly unusual. Sylvia and plenty of other Stregas could perform similar feats, but they only tended to boost their capabilities by around 50 percent at best. Even Fuyuka’s amalgamation technique with her shikigami had only roughly doubled her overall strength. What Julis had done, however, was off the charts. 
Not only that, she had strengthened both her physical performance and her Strega abilities, too. That boosted Amaryllis alone had to be at least ten times what she could normally pull off. 
At first, it looked as if her whole body was burning in a pale-blue light. Her skin, her hair, even her uniform had all merged into the flames. The white flower at her back was already half wilted. 
If he took her at her word, this would only last twelve seconds. 
But was there anyone capable of surviving against her for that long as she was now? 
“It’s over, Ayato,” she said, raising the Nova Spina into the air. “Burst into bloom—Amaryllis Multiflos!” 
Eight fireballs, all the same magnitude as the last one, appeared around him. 
“That’s… Uh-oh…,” Ayato murmured as he braced himself with the Ser Veresta. 
And then— 
“Ayato Amagiri—crest broken.” 
“End of battle! Winner: Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld!”