Ikki Stella fight volume 1 chapter 1

And the Crimson Princess's ability produced incandescent flames that burn any target to nothing―!

"Prepare yourself, you degenerate! I'll erase you from this world without leaving a speck behind!"

"A-Are you serious!?"

"Excuses are useless―!"

The sword of flame swung downwards. Facing that, Ikki also took a defensive stance.

"Come forth, Intetsu[4]!"

It was a Japanese long sword made of raven-black steel. The F-Rank Knight, Ikki Kurogane, used his Device Intetsu to block Stella's downward swing.

But―

"A flimsy defense!"

"Hot!"

"Of course it's hot! My Lævateinn, clad in the flames of my Noble Art Dragon Breath[5], goes up to three thousand degrees centigrade! Even if you block, I can burn my enemies with the might of the dragon empress alone!"

"What a ridiculous ability…!"

Feeling vexed from being so close, Ikki used all his strength to put some distance between them.
- Volume 1, chapter 1
[IKKI BLOCKS STELLA'S SWORD DESPITE ITS 3000 DEGREE HEAT]
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"Haaaaa!"

The match started, and Stella instantly dashed toward Ikki, swinging down her sword now covered in red flames. The swing might've looked crude to unlearned observers, but it was a precise and powerful strike.

Yet a wide swing was just a wide swing. Ikki saw through her movement and raised Intetsu to receive it―but he immediately aborted that action and took a sudden step back. An instant later, Lævateinn struck the arena floor violently and the entire space shook like an earthquake.

"Wise choice. If you received that blow, it wouldn't have ended with just a few scratches."

"What an outrageous attack. So you weren't being serious in the chairman's office?"

"That's right. If I became serious in such a place, the entire school building would be destroyed."

Grinning broadly, Stella immediately took pursuit, and Ikki drew another step back to widen the distance. If he tried to stop such a swing head on, his arm would be crushed. Stella's weapon was a long sword, a heavy weapon, and it was common sense when facing heavy weapons that he'd have an advantage in retreating speed.

But common sense couldn't apply to a monstrous opponent like Stella.

"Slow. Too slow!"

"Wha―"

*Whoosh!* The wind roared, and Stella immediately caught up to him.

"Did you think you could beat me when it comes to speed? Too bad, but magic isn't limited to offense alone. I can increase my mobility several times over by concentrating magic at the bottom of my feet and releasing it in a burst. And my aura capacity is thirty times greater than a normal Blazer, so it won't become spent keeping up with the likes of you. In other words, you can't beat me in either power or speed!"

If Ikki were to compare her with something, then "ultra-high mobility heavy tank with infinite fuel" would be appropriate. Ikki laughed bitterly at that kind of unfair ability, whose owner was now charging right at him.

So this is an A-Rank, huh?

***
Towards Ikki, who had just been made aware of that fact, the Crimson Princess brandished her blazing sword and swung it in an inescapable strike that could cleave the ground itself.

Now that he couldn't dodge her strikes anymore, Ikki also responded with his weapon. The swordfight had begun, and clear sounds of clashing metal resounded like music in the ears of the arena's spectators.

「Oooooh…!」

Their cheers rose as they watched the figure creating Lævateinn's burning arcs.

This was a knight who polished her sword techniques. Few mage-knights excelled in martial arts or swordsmanship, because they could become far stronger by training Blazer abilities instead of physical skills. That belief was held by both educators and society, so knight evaluations didn't include such skills, and while only mediocre mage-knights shared such thinking, mediocre knights were the majority.

The minority, the truly strong knights, would master physical skills alongside Blazer abilities, because they had an unflagging will to improve. They would absorb every tactic that could empower them, develop their strength, and reach for ever higher summits.

Stella Vermillion stood among that minority. She, who won the sword tournament of the Vermillion Empire, used her Imperial Arts[6] as if she was dancing, but with enough force to press Ikki. It took Ikki, still trying to open a gap between them, all he had just to defend against those strikes. He kept retreating backwards again and again.

「Of course it'll turn out like this. The repeater, he's being completely overpowered.」

「Yeah, it feels like all he's doing is running away.」

「Just a matter of time now, huh?」

At this unsurprising outcome, a cold mood fell over the spectators. But―

What… is this?

Stella Vermillion felt something painfully off about this situation. Her sword dealt strikes that could produce earthquakes, could crush an enemy in one hit without fail. Overpowering an opponent without crushing him should be impossible, because her attacks couldn't be blocked so casually. But what was happening in this duel? Stella should be one-sidedly battering her opponent, but she was the one sweating.

Turn out like this? Running away? Just a matter of time? Those impressions were dead wrong. Stella herself had realized that.

I'm being… set up!

"Haaa!"

Stella brought her Lævateinn down on the enemy before her. Ikki received that strike with his Intetsu―but without stopping there, he rode the force of the strike and swiftly leaped backward, widening the distance between them once again.

…Again!

From afar it certainly seemed like Stella's strikes were pushing Ikki back, but the reality was different. Against his tactics, her strikes were being completely negated. Using a soft defense that slowly drained away power―that might sound easy, but doing it was quite difficult. If the strength in blocking was even a little bit too high then his arm would be pulverized, and if it was even a tiny bit too low then he'd be cut down. The calculations of power, angle, timing―missing even one of these factors meant immediate failure, yet Stella's opponent handled all that without so much as breaking a sweat. At this realization, Stella felt an indescribable anxiety. It was an alarm bell, her sixth sense warning that the enemy before her was very dangerous!
- Volume 1, Chapter 1
[STELLA'S SWORD SWINGS ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO 'CAUSE EARTHQUAKES' AND WOULD DESTROY IKKI'S ARMS IF HE BLOCKED THEM STRAIGHT ON. DESPITE THAT, AND STELLA BEING FASTER THAN IKKI AS WELL AS INCREDIBLY SKILLED HERSELF, IKKI STILL PERFECTLY DEFLECTS EVERY STRIKE. ALSO, SHE STILL HAS 3000 DEGREE SWINGS]
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"Are you only good at running away!?"

As if trying to dispel that feeling, Stella kept on slashing at Ikki.


But he didn't reply. The troubled but warm smile he sported just a while ago had disappeared. Now he wore an expression so serious it could be terrifying, and he was calmly watching every movement Stella made.

What irritating eyes!

As if her clothes, skin, and muscles were being read fiber by fiber, her every little act was being studied. And from that gaze, she realized that Ikki was trying to understand the Imperial Arts from her movements.

"My sword style isn't so simple that you can see through it easily!"

"…No, I already got it."

In an instant, the flow of the battle turned. Only five minutes had passed since the start of the match when Ikki Kurogane began to attack for the first time.

It might've seemed like a suicidal action at first glance. In a head-on clash between swordsmen, what could he do with just honed technique against an opponent with that much offensive force? He could only fall before such scorching firepower. It should've been inevitable, but―

"Kuh!"

But Stella was the one who retreated. Ikki was pushing Stella back with his weapon. How? The method lay with the sun-like orbit Intetsu was tracing. It was, in fact, Stella's Imperial Arts.

"Impossible…! How can you be using it?"

As she asked, something flashed through Stella's mind.

"You don't mean, you copied my style during these exchanges!?"

"Something like that. I've been despised ever since I was a child, so no one ever taught me, and all I could do was watch others and steal their styles. That's why I'm quite good at these kinds of tactics. I can grasp most sword techniques with only a minute of trading blows."

Swordsmanship describes its own knowledge, style describes its own history, and breathing describes its own principle. If one followed the branches and leaves of a sword style and arrived down at the root, then it wouldn't be hard to grasp that style's techniques and combinations, or its approach in facing different situations. This was what Ikki was saying.

"And if I can understand the style that far, I can also create techniques that outperform my opponent's."

What was the ultimate way to surpass an opponent's sword style? Simply correct all the flaws of that style to create a more perfect one, and the new would be plainly superior to the old. The new style would account for all the old style's faults, and even compensate for its weaknesses. It would eclipse its precursor in every offensive and defensive situation.

"Creating that sword style in the middle of battle is my technique, Blade Steal[7]. Because Stella-san's techniques were so well-engrained, it took me two minutes to steal it and thirty seconds to surpass it. But now I have a solid grasp, so I'll also be attacking from here on."

「H-Hey. Doesn't the princess look like she's being pushed back!?」

Stella was falling behind visibly. The audience started stirring up at the unexpected development, but the one most surprised was Stella herself, and not only because she had lost in sword skill. She was surprised because her prized style had been copied, and moreover, Ikki had refined the style enough to surpass it. Just by looking at her sword swings, he could grasp the wisdom of a technique, read its history, and find its secrets. That devilish insight, it could even be called a reflective magic mirror. And on top of everything, he had done all this without using a bit of magic.

For this boy, receiving fierce attacks from Stella Vermillion and surpassing her Imperial Arts were nothing more than feats of general swordsmanship. How much training must he have had to gain such expertise?

Strong…!

She could no longer deny it. Comparing just their sword skills, this boy was several levels above her. If the duel was restricted to weapons alone, it wouldn't even be a fair fight.
- Volume 1, Chapter 1
[IT TYPICALLY TAKES IKKI 1 MINUTE OF TRADING BLOWS TO COPY A SWORD STYLE. STELLA WAS SKILLED ENOUGH TO TAKE TWO MINUTES TO COPY AND AN ADDITIONAL 30 SECONDS TO SURPASS.]
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If her sword style was seen through, then she could exploit that fact. Stella took the stance to swing Lævateinn downwards. Ikki swung Intetsu upwards in response. She had sent her downward arc to crush his guard, and Ikki had already grasped the speed and power of the strike when she took the initial stance, so his response was inevitable. But that itself was Stella's trap!

It worked!

Stella abandoned the swing and jumped backwards with a grin. If Ikki had seen through her style, then he should surely be caught off guard, because Stella, who had only attacked thus far, was retreating for the first time.

Ikki had taken the initiative after seeing through her style, and he immediately fell for the feint. His slashing attack missed by a wide margin. Aiming for that moment, Stella struck with her Lævateinn at Ikki's exposed flank. It was a sudden variation of tactics for Stella, who had only been attacking straightforwardly until now.

Intetsu's black blade, which was slashing empty space, could not respond to this change in timing. Lævateinn's blade smoothly scythed toward Ikki's unguarded torso.

It had to work, but―

"Your sword is half-asleep, you know."

―Lævateinn's blade never reached Ikki's side. It had been blocked.

N-No way!?

He had changed her rhythm, stopped her approach, and even entered her blind spot. Intetsu's blade was supposed to be too far off to possibly react to her cut, but her cut was still blocked!

How!? The answer to that question was―his hilt. Ikki had blocked Stella's feint-enabled strike with Intetsu's hilt, using the slight gap between his hands as they clasped the grip.

Just what kind of motion perception does this guy have!?

"Aiming for victory carelessly after feeling pressured? Slashing while retreating isn't your style. Even someone like me can stop such a weak attack. That move was your downfall."

Saying that, Ikki pushed Lævateinn away, creating a large opening in her guard.

"Haaaaa!"

And with Intetsu's blade, he slashed down at Stella's defenseless form.
- Volume 1, Chapter 1
[STELLA TRIES TO ADAPT HER TACTICS AFTER HAVING HER STYLE READ BUT IS INSTANTLY SEEN THROUGH, IKKI BLOCKING HER BLIND SPOT ATTACK WITH THE HILT OF HIS SWORD WITH EASE]
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「Is it over!?」

「It's a perfect hit. That should end it.」

「No way, the A-Rank Stella-san was beaten like this….」

「Wasn't she just unprepared? Otherwise, this is impossible….」

「…No, wait! Look at that!」

The confused spectators turned their gazes to Stella's right shoulder. Intetsu's blade had indeed landed there, but it was completely stopped. Ikki's full-powered strike couldn't damage Stella at all.

"…So in the end, it turns out like this."

Setting aside his exasperation, Ikki once again took a large step back to escape the scorching heat, increasing the gap between them. His opponent was using magic as a shield, and an attack without equally strong magic couldn't harm a shielded Blazer. Ikki's magic was too limited, too weak. However excellent his techniques might be, lacking a Blazer's most important trait meant he couldn't even pierce the magic power Stella was releasing subconsciously.
[THROUGHOUT THIS FIGHT, STELLA IS WAY STRONGER AND FASTER THAN IKKI TO THE EXTENT THAT IKKI CAN LITERALLY DEAL NO DAMAGE EVEN WITH DIRECT HITS]
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SAME CHAPTER, STELLA 100M LONG FIRE SWORD, IKKI USES ITTOU SHURA TO DODGE IT ALL AND MOVE FASTER THAN STELLA CAN PERCEIVE.

EXPLANATION OF POWER, NORMALLY DOUBLES STATS, BUT IKKI CAN USE IT TO INCREASE STATS SEVERAL DOZEN TIMES BY EXPENDING ALL HIS ENERGY FOR ONE MINUTE THROUGH SHEER WILLPOWER TO OVERCOME BIOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS
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SAME CHAPTER, ILLUSIONARY DEVICES DON'T DEAL PHYSICAL DAMAGE, INSTEAD SHAVING OFF STAMINA AND MAGIC POWER DIRECTLY FOR NON-LETHAL COMBAT.
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"In any case, it's strange for someone like him to be an F-Rank and repeat a year! Please explain to me exactly what's going on!"

"Even if you say that, him being an F-Rank is actually a valid judgment, because the ranking system evaluates Blazer abilities. Mundane skills like swordsmanship, physical fitness, and martial arts aren't included in that evaluation, since such things would probably be ineffective against Noble Arts."

Indeed, mundane skills were nothing compared to overwhelming supernatural power. For example, suppose there existed a master swordsman who could even cut through steel. How would he fight against Stella's flaming sword? His mastery was useless; he could only burn to ashes. Mundane skills were only useful to Blazers when fighting those with equal magic ability.

"That's the general public's way of thinking these days. To put it simply, no system exists to evaluate Kurogane appropriately. And Kurogane, who only excels in physical skills… well, he could only be called the worst. It's rare for someone to have circumstances this bad. If you're a prodigy who appears only once a decade, then he's a dunce that appears only once a decade too. Nothing can really be done about that. You should also understand after facing him directly, since his full-powered strike couldn't harm you even while you were defenseless."
- Volume 1, Chapter 1
[STELLA CONFIDENTLY STATES THAT A MASTER SWORDSMAN WHO CAN CUT THROUGH STEEL WOULD HAVE NO CHANCE AGAINST HER FLAMING SWORD - IKKI IS JUST A PURE EXCEPTION CUS TOO SKILLED]
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「What amazing encouragement from the cheering section! Contender 'Heavy Tank' Momotani's place among the school's top ten most popular isn't just talk! Now, will his signature move that has blown many knights out of the stadium appear today too!? That heavy charge from the rare armor-type Device Goliath!?」

Takeshi Momotani, a giant standing 190 centimeters tall and stout as a boulder, was Stella's opponent for her first match. Pressured by the screams from the cheering section and by the host's anticipation, he lowered his heavily armored body into a ramming stance with one shoulder pointed at his opponent―but after taking the stance, Momotani didn't move.

"What's wrong, Momotani!? Blow her away like you usually do!"

"That girl lost to an F-Rank! Someone like you has more than enough to take her down, yeah!?"

His friends and classmates jeered, but Momotani himself―

That's easy for you guys say, but how am I supposed to do this…?

―was cringing at the sea of flame spread over the ring. Stella, his opponent, stood in the center of that sea with a dress of blazing flame over her body, and the heat of her Dragon Breath was grilling Momotani inside his armor despite more than ten meters of separation between them. He understood for the first time the extraordinary energy Stella held. Fighting against such an opponent was like throwing himself into a furnace.

Stella addressed the unmoving Momotani.

"It seems you have better judgment than that noisy bunch behind you. This match is a real battle, and if you just dash in, you won't get off with illusionary pain. Keeping that in mind, you should think hard before making a move."

Whether because of his own hesitation or the reasoning he just heard, Momotani took her advice quite seriously.

"…I forfeit."
- Volume 1, Chapter 4
[Stella's passive heat makes a tank guy forfeit without getting within 10 metres of her]
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In that moment, Stella disappeared from before Akaza's sight. No, not disappeared―it wasn't that he had lost sight of her, but that Stella had stepped in between intervals of his awareness.

The ancient martial arts footwork, Trackless Step. For someone of Stella's class, as long as she understood the principle, it was not a difficult technique to reproduce. Stella carried Ikki past Akaza without him being aware of it.

―And as she went past, she gave a backhand blow that sent his whole pitiful body flying.
- Volume 3, Chapter 4
[For scaling, Stella is skilled enough to copy trackless step as well]
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