Ch.370365 – Stella

“Katsuhata won? Isn’t that obvious? Wasn’t her opponent just a 13-year-old kid?”

Those who only saw the match results couldn’t understand.

How much emotion was packed into this single match.

The young Brazilian prodigy pushed Emika to the very edge.

Teetering on that dangerous precipice, Emika somehow returned and barely claimed victory.

It was only natural that spectators were captivated by Cecilia’s amazing triple casting and Emika’s dazzling swordplay.

[Upvote if this was the best match of the year lol]

[de Sampaio fan fiction writer completes triple casting in 5 seconds.mp4]

[Innate Magic: Manubia Rafflesia frontal size perspective.jpg]

[Katsuhata’s 249-combo at 4x speed like watching a fighting game.mp4]

[NoName predicting victory before the match even ended]

[Today’s commentator = GOAT]

[Katsuhata Emika shooting lightsabers from her mouth.gif]

[Emika-chan’s last-minute comedy attempt.gif]

[Today’s commentator = GOAT]

“NoName: If this goes well, or rather with high probability, I think Emika will win.”

→ She said this when there was an overwhelming gap of 25% vs 11% LMAO

Look at other reaction streams and NoName was the only one who saw the comeback potential.

What are you waiting for? Worship her already.

[Comments]

-It’s chilling that she actually saw the comeback potential, not just saying it out of fandom.

-Yeah, even NoName said Katsuhata was at a disadvantage when she got hit by that lightning flower strike.

“Is she losing?” “She’ll win.”

-60,000 viewers LMAO isn’t this basically an official broadcast?

-Info) de Sampaio’s nationality is Brazilian and French, but her hometown is America. She basically grew up in America so she’s essentially American.

└ What’s with this illegal participation!

└ And she’s representing Brazil LMAO

Interviews with the two girls who showed an epic match have been prepared.

Cecilia expressed her thoughts with a refreshed expression.

“I have no regrets! I gave it my all but couldn’t overcome the wall that is Katsuhata. Still, I’m glad I could prove my abilities in front of so many people, and I’ll return next year much stronger than I am now!”

“We’re curious about your schedule from here. Will you be staying to watch the finals at Tokyo Stadium?”

“Yes! My coach and I will be watching both the semifinals and finals in person. If possible, I’d like to have matches with other participants too!”

“We’re very curious about which participant de Sampaio is interested in. Could you tell us?”

“Of course! I want to face off against NoName from Korea.”

“NoName… Korea…? I believe Korea isn’t a participating country.”

“Oh right, that’s true. Anyway, I really want to fight NoName. She’s the only one who won’t fight me! Hey friend, are you watching? Huh?”

Cecilia thrust her tanned face right up to the camera.

As the cameraman stepped back in surprise, the reporter asked with an intrigued look.

“We’ve heard rumors about NoName too. Have you met her personally?”

“The Horn of the Demon King became a crucial magic in this year’s National Exchange Competition. She taught us the exact mana cost of the magic, and basically, Name sincerely taught us many things. The same goes for the other semifinalists.”

Meanwhile, at another press conference, Emika was bombarded with questions.

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

She must have burst into tears right after the match.

“Congratulations on advancing to the semifinals, Katsuhata Emika. Are you alright?”

“Hehe… I’m just so happy. I’m crying tears of joy…”

“It was a match that will go down in history. That magic you cast at the end, it was definitely an unregistered innate magic, right?”

“Yes, yes. I created it with Name when I went to Korea for training. I wasn’t sure if I could use such an incomplete magic in an actual match… hehe, I’m glad it worked out well.”

“It certainly was a game-changer. What do you think was the key to your thrilling comeback victory?”

“It’s not over until it’s over. I think I fought with the mindset that I’d literally die if I lost this.”

“You’re known to have many Korean fans. Could you say something to your Korean fans?”

“Umm… Thank you Korean fans for supporting me, and I love you all too. I’ll definitely come visit after winning the National Exchange Competition.”

“de Sampaio also said she’ll be cheering for you until the end. Oh, and she just mentioned she’s going to have a match with NoName. How do you see that matchup?”

“Huh? Well, I think she has a good chance.”

“Oh, you mean NoName has a good chance?”

“No, I mean de Sampaio. Name is much stronger, not weaker…”

* * *

On a humid summer night.

I sat on a park bench having a video call with my family back home.

“Yes, good night to you too, Dad.”

Professor Cheon, who had finished all his domestic conference schedules, declared he would come to Japan.

Since staying too long at someone else’s home would be impolite, I said I would find a suitable hotel.

[Wow, overseas trip! Sis, did you miss me sooo much? I’ll come give you a big hug soon!]

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

We video call every day, so missing her is…

Well, maybe I do miss her a little.

Just as I was about to finish my night walk and head back, I ran into an annoying person.

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

Cecilia Nieto de Sampaio.

The clear protagonist of this National Exchange Competition, nicknamed the “Little Giant.”

“Korean girl, let’s have a match!”

“In that condition?”

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

She must have had difficulty even walking a few steps, as she collapsed onto the bench next to me.

At the park entrance, black bodyguards wearing sunglasses even at night were keeping watch.

These were real powerhouses, different from Prince Larsson’s guards.

“How was my match today?”

Cecilia asked in a sing-song voice.

“It was impressive.”

“What? That’s all?”

“You’re not going to be satisfied with just that, are you?”

I thought she was smart enough to understand what I meant.

Cecilia tapped one foot repeatedly, pondering, then finally snapped her fingers.

“Aha! Thanks for cheering me on. Name, you’re not very honest, are you? Hmph.”

“I’ll keep watching you with interest. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

“Wait! Why won’t you have a match with me?”

Cecilia jumped up with an indignant expression and grabbed my wrist.

Trying to deliver dramatic lines doesn’t work well for either of us with our short stature.

“Because you’re young.”

At 13, she’d barely be considered an adult even in my previous life.

I might not mind fighting adults, but I felt uncomfortable about fighting someone who had just left childhood.

Cecilia frowned intensely and tilted her head.

She pointed her finger alternately at me and herself.

“I’m 13. But you’re only 9, right?”

“So what? You’re still young too.”

“Anyway, it’s strange. That’s a hard reason to accept.”

“Meet me at next year’s National Exchange Competition. I’ll beat you up all you want then.”

“Hahahahaha! Name, you’re so cute I might have a heart attack! But I have no patience, you know?”

Cecilia’s eyes flashed.

The girl, who had pulled her aura up to her head, had green light swirling in her eyes.

“Today I’m going to confirm the truth of the rumors. Is it true that you defeated Federico Mancini?”

“What if I did?”

“Mancini was no easy opponent even for me. How could you possibly win with such a frail body? I’m curious, so curious I might go crazy. Do swords pop out of your body like Emika-chan?”

“I don’t have that ability.”

I’m wondering how to send this curious girl away.

With a heavy heart, I tilted my head back.

The stars adorning the night sky caught my eye.

Some stars wore golden robes and danced a mesmerizing minuet, while others flickered faintly with a soft light, humming quiet songs.

Perhaps because we were in the countryside away from the city, the constellations were clearly visible.

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

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then you must like looking at stars? Do you know constellations?”

“Yes, yes, of course! I even know what kind of main sequence stars they all are!”

It seems that children worldwide share the common trait of getting excited when talking about something they know.

I drew sand from the ground and set my wand perpendicular to the earth.

[Composition: Barrier Setting]

[Cast: Stella’s Barrier]

A downgraded version of the Alchemist’s magic.

Everything around us plunged into pitch darkness, and the shy July stars began to reveal themselves one by one.

I selected eight constellations among them.

I embedded five runes in each constellation, totaling 40 runes, and increased their luminosity to hide the characters with light.

Cecilia watched my eccentric behavior with fascinated eyes.

“This is a bet between you and me.”

“A bet?”

“Yes. If you win the bet, I’ll have a match with you right away, today or tomorrow.”

“Great, that sounds fun!”

“The condition to release this barrier is to cast a magic circle with the same arrangement of constellations and runes. For example, watch.”

I decided to reveal one answer in advance.

The Northern Crown constellation, spread in a U-shape.

“If you match Alphecca, Nusakan, Gamma, Epsilon, and Theta stars with El-Argen-Psyche-Nelimelro-Ribatliss respectively, you get the 4th circle Aquilis Superbo, which is representative of astral magic.”

“Wow, amazing!”

“Try to find the corresponding magic for the remaining seven constellations in the same way. I’ll give you unlimited chances. But since you shouldn’t go home too late, you have about 20 minutes.”

“I think I already know one. Doesn’t it seem perfect to put Ras-Maven-Sutra-Hayprit-Sutra in that Southern Triangle constellation? The 4th circle ‘Polar Coordinate Assignment-Time Dimension Expansion’ magic circle.”

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

The stars that had been as bright as the moon gradually lost their light source and disappeared as if the lights were turned off.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Easy, so easy. With such loose constraints, there are many corresponding magics! Name, you underestimated me too much!”

Cecilia excitedly began to draw magic circles quickly.

“The Square constellation is the 3rd circle Polarization Array, and for the Hercules constellation, using only the five brightest stars as you said… what has a curved T-shape? Ah! The 4th circle Manubia Diffusio!”

She even correctly identifies rarely used 4th circle magic.

At this rate, it might be faster to find magic she doesn’t know rather than what she does.

“The last one, Scorpius… ugh, just one more! What magic circle has runes clustered in groups of 3 and 2 divided east to west…! Does such a thing even exist?”

“As far as I know, there’s exactly one.”

“It’s definitely not 4th circle… 5th circle maybe? Hmm? Aaaah! 5th circle Sunia Sonata? Wow, I just guessed and got it right!”

I was secretly impressed to see her perfectly match even the seven-syllable runes.

All the constellations’ lights went out, and pitch-black darkness descended within the barrier.

“But why isn’t the barrier being released?”

“Now you need to record those magic circles again. It’s the password to release the barrier, so you don’t need to inject mana.”

[Record: Aquilis Superbo]

Before I could finish speaking, Cecilia had already drawn a perfect magic circle.

The constellation flickered briefly and then slowly lost its light again.

“Name, the stars are getting dark again?”

“Yes.”

“Do I need to light them all up at once in succession?”

“Yes.”

“Really? They’re turning off too quickly?”

“Yes.”

Cecilia took out her left hand, which she had kept in her pocket.

She recorded magic circles with both hands simultaneously.

Double casting.

[Record: Aquilis Superbo]

[Record: Manubia Diffusio]

Whoosh-!

The surrounding stars brightened momentarily, and as the magic circles began to lose their vitality, she drew two more magics.

[Record: Polarization Array]

[Record: Polar Coordinate Assignment-t Dimension Expansion]

“Huff… huff… I can do them in succession. But there’s no time to do one more from here.”

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

The moment her eyes opened, three great circles were drawn around her body simultaneously.

Triple casting.

[Record: Aquilis Superbo]

[Record: Manubia Diffusio]

[Record: Polarization Array]

“*cough* *cough*! And another triple from here…!”

[Record: Polar Coordinate Assignment-t Dimension Expansion]

[Record: Sunia Sona-]

Crash-!

Her overloaded brain groaned in pain.

Her aura heart pulsated violently, and mana leaked out chaotically.

Even for Cecilia, consecutive triple casting seemed to be too much.

She roughly wiped away the nosebleed that was trickling down with her arm.

She walks toward me with a frustrated expression.

“This was an impossible bet from the start! You never intended to have a match with me, did you?”

“What if I can do it?”

“Huh?”

“If I can do it, then you’ll have no more excuses, right?”

“No, I don’t accept cheating. Unless you solve this barrier in a legitimate way, I absolutely won’t acknowledge it.”

Cecilia turns her head away sharply.

I gently stroked her chin as if handling a retriever and walked past her.

“What if I solve this barrier with quadruple casting?”

“Well… if… if you do that, I could even become your subordinate for life!”

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

“I’ll do whatever, clan or whatever!”

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

It’s just a verbal promise anyway.

If she keeps it, great for me; if not, oh well.

Still, it’s always fun to give growing talents a fresh shock.

Quadruple casting.

I inscribe the following magic circles on the Northern Crown, Hercules, Square, and Southern Triangle constellations.

[Record: Aquilis Superbo]

[Record: Manubia Diffusio]

[Record: Polarization Array]

[Record: Polar Coordinate Assignment-t Dimension Expansion]