Chapter 35: Shaking Her Shoulder, Asking for a Spark

King charged with the speed of a lightning bolt. Facing a strike that would surely leave her incapacitated if it connected, Yellow calmly began constructing her attack formula.

"Royal Cluster!"

"Told Nova!"

Their blades met on a perfectly straight line, locking into a tense stalemate.

"Witness our loyalty! Magicians' Twisted Staff!"

Defying the laws of physics, Noise generated a wall of vibration that sent a barrage of bullets ricocheting through the air.

"Gah!"

"Are you kidding me...?"

Yellow caught a bullet—one that should have been vibrating at a high frequency—right between her teeth. She crushed it, neutralizing its effect instantly. However, it had served its purpose in showing her opponents' devotion to their King.

"Hah!"

King deactivated her finishing move midway through, shifting the direction of her force horizontally. That slight adjustment was enough to shatter Yellow’s balance.

"Hmph!"

Yet, Yellow was no slouch when it came to quick decision-making. A split second after realizing she’d been misdirected, she let go of her knife and transitioned into a grappling stance.

Even so, in the brief moment it took for her to stabilize her shifted center of gravity, Noise launched a follow-up attack, forcing Yellow to react.

Exactly one second later...

A heavy collision echoed through the hall.

Yellow and King’s fists slammed into each other. Normally, the sheer amount of electricity Yellow produced would have been enough to fry someone's brain on contact, but King had prepared for it in that final instant.

She had wrapped her own hair around her fist. As a Phantasm Girl, her hair was made of reinforced carbon fiber—a natural insulator that blocked the current.

"I’ve won!!"

King’s full-force straight punch lunged toward Yellow... but just before it landed, Yellow leaped backward to dampen the impact.

Both of them felt it. This would end with the next move. Yellow’s Burst Form wouldn't last much longer; she probably had about five minutes left.

And then...

In an instant, they both realized they might die.

"That’s enough."

The scene froze as a sudden intruder stepped in, bringing the battle to an immediate halt.

It was Esil.

"I have determined that this has escalated beyond the scope of training. Therefore, I am declaring this a draw."

"Huh? You have any idea who you're messing with, brat?"

Noise reached out toward Esil as if to shove her aside.

"Gah... what...?"

Without a moment's hesitation—and without even seeming to move—Esil slammed Noise into the ground. What was even more startling was that Esil hadn't moved a single step from her original position.

Both King and Yellow turned their fists toward each other again, drawn by instinct... but with a faint tap of Esil’s hand, they were both flipped through the air, landing hard on their backs.

"No way..."

"We were beaten... by a mass-produced model...?"

The two of them lay there with stunned expressions, seemingly unable to accept what had just happened. I was about to step in and warn them never to let things get this far again when—

"That was amazing!!"

As if their previous hostility had never existed, they scrambled to their feet and crowded around Esil. Their eyes were filled with respect and curiosity; it looked like things wouldn't turn out so badly after all.

"How did you do that?! I assume it’s a category of martial arts, but I’ve never seen such a stylish application of kinetic combat!!"

"You barely used any force at all! And you're saying you're at the bottom of the rankings for combat training? I'd love to know what kind of place produced the instructor who handled your training!"

"Weren't you two just making fun of mass-produced models?" I asked.

King and Noise looked at me blankly for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Well, yeah. Creating industrial waste like that usually just results in the deaths of precious citizens."

"Indeed! Until now, I recognized mass-produced units only as things to be protected. But look at this! Lady Esil has smashed through that wall and shown us a new world of possibility! I apologize for my previous rudeness. I'm so embarrassed I could crawl into a hole!!"

King spoke to Esil with stars in her eyes.

"To think I was ignorant of the skills of those who protect this country alongside us... What kind of King would I be to neglect such knowledge?! I had forgotten. All those who swear loyalty and raise their weapons are knights and comrades!"

"Please, tell me where you learned such techniques. I hate to say this after praising you so much, but I felt like there were some gaps in your martial arts style, Lady Esil."

"Commander..."

Yellow looked at me, her expression full of concern.

"I'll tell you. I'll tell you about Asuna."

It felt as though a single spotlight had pierced the dark, desolate wasteland. Within that light, a white-haired girl lay fast asleep.

We would go to her and gently shake her shoulder—all of us in the Amane Squad. And as soon as she woke, I knew she would ask me for something.

She’d ask for a tiny spark, no more than three centimeters long.