Chapter 370

“Did Katsuhata win? Isn’t that obvious? The opponent was a 13-year-old kid, right?”

Those who only looked at the result of the match couldn’t understand how much joy and sorrow were contained in that single game.

The young genius from Brazil cornered Emika to the brink. Emika, who barely returned alive from the precarious edge, managed to seize victory.

It was no surprise that the audience was captivated by Cecilia’s astonishing triple casting and Emika’s dazzling swordplay.

[If this is the best match of the year, thumbs down, lol]

[De Saampaio’s triple casting cut in 5 seconds.mp4]

[Unique Magic: Manubia Laplesia front size perception.jpg]

[Katsuhata’s 249 combo in double speed, feels like watching a fighting game.mp4]

[No Name predicting the victory before the match is over]

[Today’s commentary GOAT]

[Katsuhata Emika shooting a lightsaber from her mouth.gif]

[Emika-chan’s last comedy desire.gif]

[Today’s commentary GOAT]

“No Name: If things go well, or rather, there’s a high probability that Emika will win.”

→ Said amidst an overwhelming gap of 25% to 11%, lol

Even when looking for other broadcasts, No Name was the only one to see a reversal possibility from there. What are you doing? You should worship her.

[Comments]

– It’s chilling to think this wasn’t just a comment made out of simple fan affection.

– Yeah, that lightning flower strike made it seem like Katsuhata was at a disadvantage.

– “Are you losing?” “No, I’m winning.”

– 60,000 viewers, lol. At this point, isn’t this effectively an official broadcast?

– Information: De Saampaio is Brazilian and French by nationality, but she claims the US as her hometown. She’s essentially American since she grew up in the United States.

└ What’s up with the illegal participation!

└ Even so, claiming to be a representative of Brazil, lol

An interview was prepared with the two girls who showcased an all-time great match.

Cecilia expressed her thoughts with a relieved look. “I have no regrets! Even though I gave it my all, I couldn’t overcome the wall that is Katsuhata. Still, I’m happy to have proved my abilities in front of many people, and I will return next year much more developed!”

“I wonder what your schedule will be like after this. Will you be watching the finals at Tokyo Stadium?”

“Yes! I will be going with my coach to watch both the semifinals and the finals. If possible, I would like to spar with someone else as well!”

“To think De Saampaio is interested in a participant, I’m really curious. Can you share who it is?”

“Of course! I want to face the Korean player, No Name!”

“No Name…? Korea…? I don’t think Korea is a participating country.”

“Oh right, I forgot that. Anyway, I definitely want to fight No Name. She won’t spar with me! Hey, are you watching, friend? Huh?”

Cecilia leaned her bronze face close to the camera.

As the cameraman stepped back in surprise, the reporter asked with an interesting gleam in his eyes.

“I’ve heard whispers about No Name, too. It seems you’ve personally met her?”

“At this year’s international exchange competition, the Demon Lord’s horn became the key magic. I learned about the exact mana cost of that magic directly. Anyway, No Name taught us a lot of things with great sincerity. The other semifinalists must have felt the same way.”

Meanwhile, in another press conference, many questions were directed at Emika.

Unlike Cecilia’s bright expression, her eyes were flushed red.

She seemed to have cried immediately after the match.

“Katsuhata Emika, congratulations on reaching the semifinals. Are you okay?”

“Yay… I’m so happy. I shed a few tears out of joy…”

“It was a memorable match that will be recorded in history. The magic you cast at the end was definitely an unlisted unique magic, right?”

“Yes, yes. I created it with No Name when I went to Korea for training. Since it was still an incomplete magic, I wondered if I could really use it in an actual match… Hehe, I’m relieved it turned out well.”

“You played a game-changing role. What do you think was the key to achieving that thrilling comeback?”

“It’s not over until it’s over. I really thought that if I lost, I’d die for real.”

“It’s rumored that Katsuhata has an unusually large fan base in Korea. Could you say a word to your Korean fans?”

“Um… Thank you for your support, Korean fans, and I love you all a lot! I will definitely come visit after winning the international exchange competition.”

De Saampaio also mentioned that she would support Katsuhata until the end. Oh, and I just heard she’s going to spar with No Name. What do you think will happen between them?”

“Huh? Well, wouldn’t she have a decent chance?”

“Oh, you think No Name has a decent chance?”

“No, I mean De Saampaio. No Name would be much stronger, but I don’t think she would be weak…”

* * *

On a sultry tropical night, I sat on a bench in the park and video called my family back in my home country.

“Yes, then goodnight, Dad.”

Professor Chun, having finished his domestic academic schedule, announced he would visit Japan.

He said he would look for a suitable hotel for me, as it would be rude for me to stay in one house for too long.

[Wow, it’s an overseas trip! Older sister, I missed you so much! I’ll come hug you soon!]

Adella, who had dyed her hair platinum blonde again, smiled, showing her fangs.

Although we video call daily, it’s not unusual to miss someone.

Well, I might miss her a little.

Just as I was about to finish my night walk, I ran into an annoying character.

“Why are you here again? There are no matches or anything anymore.”

Cecilia Nieto de Saampaio.

The clear protagonist of this international exchange competition, a girl nicknamed the “Little Giant.”

“Korean girl, let’s duel!”

“With that appearance?”

She had a white bandage wrapped around her forehead and seemed to be limping on her left leg.

It appeared difficult for her to take a few steps, as she sat beside me, almost collapsing.

At the entrance of the park, black-suited bodyguards were watching, even at night.

They were real powerhouses, unlike the prince Larson situation.

“How was my match today?”

Cecilia asked in a humming tone.

“It was impressive.”

“What? Is that all?”

“You’re not satisfied here, right?”

I thought she would understand me well, being a smart kid.

Cecilia, tapping her foot while thinking, finally snapped her fingers.

“Ah-ha! Thanks for supporting me! No Name was an insincere friend? Hmph.”

“I’ll keep watching you with interest. Well then, I have to go.”

“Wait! Why won’t you spar with me?”

Cecilia stood up in a pout, grabbing my wrist.

Even if we tried to act dramatically, our short heights made it less glamorous.

“Because you’re too young.”

At 13, she was just about acknowledged as an adult in her past life.

It’s one thing to hit an adult, but hitting someone who just barely crossed out of childhood made me feel uneasy.

Cecilia frowned and tilted her head.

She began pointing her finger back and forth between herself and me.

“I’m 13. But you’re only 9?”

“So what? You’re a child too.”

“Regardless, this seems weird. It’s hard to accept.”

“Let’s meet again next year at the international exchange competition. Then I’ll beat you up as much as you want.”

“Hahahaha! No Name, you’re so cute I might have a heart attack! But I don’t have patience, you know?”

Cecilia’s eyes sparkled.

With her aura raised to her head, green light swirled in her eyes.

“I’m going to confirm the truth of this rumor today. Did you really beat Federico Mancini?”

“If I did win?”

“Mancini was definitely not an easy opponent for me. How on earth did this weak body manage to win? I’m so curious, I might go insane. Do you perhaps have a sword popping out of your body like Emika-chan?”

“I don’t have such a power.”

I puzzled over how to let this curious girl go.

With a blank heart, I leaned back.

The stars in the night sky filled my vision.

Some stars wrapped in golden robes danced a gorgeous minuet while others flashed faintly with a soft light, humming a quiet song.

Perhaps due to being far from the city, the constellations were clearly visible.

“Cecilia, you said you work at NASA, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then you must like stargazing. Do you know about constellations?”

“Of course! I know all about what kind of main-sequence stars each star is!”

It seems raising your voice when talking about what you know is a common trait among kids from everywhere.

I brought sand from the ground and planted my wand vertically into the earth.

[Creation: Setting the Barrier]

[Casting: Stella’s Barrier]

An inferior magic of the Alchemist.

Surrounded by pitch-black darkness, the shy stars of July began to appear one by one.

I selected eight constellations among them.

For each constellation, I embedded 5 runes, totaling 40 runes, increasing the luminosity to cover the characters with light.

Cecilia watched my antics in silence with an intrigued look.

“This is a bet between my sister and me.”

“A bet?”

“Yes. If my sister wins this bet, she will duel with me either today or tomorrow.”

“Okay, that sounds fun!”

“The condition for breaking this barrier is that you have to cast a magic formation that has the same arrangement of constellations and runes. For example, look closely.”

I decided to reveal one correct answer in advance.

The northern crown constellation scattered in a U-shape.

“Alpeca, Nusapkan, Gamma, Epsilon, Theta correspond to El-Argen, Psyche, Nelimelro, Rivathlis, and you get the representative 4th circle magic, Aquilis Superbo.”

“Oooh, awesome!”

“Like this, find the corresponding magic for the remaining 7 constellations as well. I’ll give you unlimited chances. But don’t come home too late, so let’s say about 20 minutes.”

“I think I already know one. Putting Las-Maven-Sutra-Hyprite-Sutra in the southern triangle position sounds perfect, right? 4th circle’s ‘Polar Coordinate Grant – Time Dimension Expansion’ magic formation.”

Cecilia drew the runes and sent them soaring into the sky.

As the moon-like bright stars gradually lost their brilliance, the lights went out.

“Yep, that’s the answer.”

“Easy, easy. Since you eased the restrictions, there are many corresponding magics! No Name underestimated me too much!”

Cecilia began drawing the magic formations excitedly.

“For the right triangle constellation, it’s the 3rd circle’s Polarization Arrangement. And for the Hercules constellation, since we’re using only the five brightest, um… what’s a bent T? Ah! The 4th circle’s Manubia Defusion!”

She was quickly hitting even lesser-known 4th circle magics.

At this rate, it might be faster to find unknown magics rather than the ones I already know.

“Scorpio… uh, I just need one more! What’s the magic formation that splits three runes in the east-west direction in pairs…? Is there one?”

“To my knowledge, there’s just one.”

“Surely, it can’t be the 4th circle… is it the 5th? Hmm? Aaaaa! 5th circle, Sunia Sunata? I guessed it and got it right!”

I was also amazed inside as she perfectly nailed the 7-syllable runes.

As all the starlight vanished, total darkness descended upon the barrier.

“But why won’t the barrier break?”

“Now you just need to rewrite that magic formation. It’s the barrier release code, so you won’t need to inject mana.”

[Recording: Aquilis Superbo]

Just as I brought it up, Cecilia drew a perfect magic formation.

The constellations briefly sparkled before slowly losing their light again.

“Hey, the stars are getting dark again.”

“Yep.”

“Do I really need to light them all up together?”

“Yep.”

“Seriously? They go out too fast!”

“Yep.”

Cecilia pulled her left hand out from her pocket.

She simultaneously recorded the magic formation with both hands.

Double casting.

[Recording: Aquilis Superbo]

[Recording: Manubia Defusion]

Swoosh-!

Just as the surrounding stars brightened, she rapidly drew the next two spells.

[Recording: Polarization Arrangement]

[Recording: Polar Coordinate Grant – T-Dimension Expansion]

“Gah… huh… I can do it in sequence, but I won’t have enough time to do it again.”

She sat on the ground, took a deep breath, and concentrated.

The moment her eyes opened, three circles were drawn around her body at once.

Triple casting.

[Recording: Aquilis Superbo]

[Recording: Manubia Defusion]

[Recording: Polarization Arrangement]

“Cough cough! And then to triple it again…!”

[Recording: Polar Coordinate Grant – T-Dimension Expansion]

[Recording: Sunia Suna-]

Crash-!

Her overloaded brain groaned in protest.

Her aura heart throbbed violently while mana fumbled out chaotically.

Even for Cecilia, carrying out consecutive triple castings seemed to be too much.

She dabbed at the blood that flowed from her nose with her arm in a haphazard manner.

With an expression of frustration, she strode toward me.

“This was a completely unreasonable bet from the start! You never intended to duel with me, did you?”

“What if I can do it?”

“Huh?”

“If I can do it, then there won’t be any further excuses, right?”

“No, I don’t accept shortcuts. Unless you unravel this barrier in a legitimate way, I will never acknowledge it.”

Cecilia turned her head sharply.

I gently stroked her chin as if handling a retriever as I passed by her.

“What if I break this barrier with quadrupole casting?”

“Then… then I would be your servant for life!”

“That sounds nice. How about joining my clan?”

“I’ll do anything, clan or whatever!”

“Alright, it’s a promise. Make sure to keep it someday.”

It’s merely a verbal agreement, after all.

If she keeps her promise, that would be great for me; if not, it’s whatever.

Still, showcasing a fresh shock to budding sprouts was always a delightful thing.

Quadrupole casting.

I inscribed the next magic formations onto the northern crown constellation, Hercules constellation, right triangle constellation, and southern triangle constellation.

[Recording: Aquilis Superbo]

[Recording: Manubia Defusion]

[Recording: Polarization Arrangement]

[Recording: Polar Coordinate Grant – T-Dimension Expansion]