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Episode 3

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Stellar Reincarnation: The Irregular of Asterisk Episode 3: Uncontrollable flames and the shadow of white gloves

The underground passage of the Colosseum Nova training grounds was filled with a cool, damp draft. Countless scratches scarred the walls, and the distant clang of metal echoed through the corridor. Kamishiro Yuuma followed the back of Julis as she walked ahead, his fingers brushing lightly against the black bracelet on his right wrist. "You've been fidgeting and looking around for a while now. What's with you?" Her fiery crimson ponytail swayed as she turned. Jade-green eyes glared sharply at Yuuma. "Uh, well, it's my first time here. It's just so big." "Well, obviously. The Seidoukan training grounds are one of the largest in Rikka. More importantly, today you're going to show me what you're made of." With that, Julis pushed open the heavy metal door. His field of vision opened up all at once. It was a massive circular arena. Seating for five thousand spectators surrounded the empty space. Countless lights poured down from the ceiling, casting a pale blue-white glow over the stone floor at the center. Along the walls, various star weapons were lined up in rows. Swords, spears, axes, shields—all bearing the scars of heavy use. "Holy crap..." The words slipped out before he could stop them. Julis walked to the center and spun around. "Listen. What I'm about to teach you is the feel of real combat. Your power is uncontrollable. If you fight alone, you'll die." Her voice was flat—almost cold. "I know. That's why I'm asking you." Yuuma looked straight at Julis. Her brow twitched slightly, and then she let out a small breath. "Then brace yourself. My flames aren't easy to hold back." Julis raised her left hand. On the back of it, the flame crest of the Riessfeld royal family rose to the surface. "Burn." In that instant, the air changed. Hot. The temperature of the training ground spiked all at once. Flames spiraled into existence around Julis. Red and gold mingled together—flames that seemed like living creatures with a will of their own. They gathered into her right hand, shaping themselves into a single greatsword. The Hellfire Greatsword—Laevateinn. Julis held it aloft with one hand, effortlessly. "This is my manifestation—Flower Flame. Maximum temperature: twenty-eight hundred degrees. Touch it, and you'll melt down to the bone." Sweat beaded on Yuuma's forehead. It wasn't just the heat. There was a definite killing intent in those flames. She was serious. Julis really intended to crush him. "...Bring it." Yuuma raised both hands in front of him and lowered his stance. He didn't know the first thing about proper form. But he had no choice but to do it. Julis vanished. No—she seemed to vanish. The next instant, a wall of flame was bearing down on him. "Guh—!" He twisted his body on reflex. The flaming sword passed within a hair's breadth of his left shoulder. The heat seared his skin. He caught the smell of his uniform sleeve scorching. But he'd dodged it. No—she'd let him dodge. Julis had read his movement and shifted her blade just slightly off course. "That one, I missed on purpose. Next time, I won't." Julis's voice echoed from beyond the flames. Yuuma steadied his breathing. His heart pounded violently behind his ribs. He was scared. But he couldn't run. "...Bracelet." Yuuma focused his awareness on the "Irregular" on his right wrist. Like that time—when he'd stopped Kirin's slash. Stop something. Julis moved again. This time she thrust the flaming sword straight at him from the front. Stop. The bracelet glowed faintly pale blue. But that was all. The flames didn't stop. "Gwaaah!" Yuuma's body was blown backward. His back slammed into the stone floor, forcing all the air from his lungs. His vision flickered white. "I don't know what you were trying to do, but with half-hearted focus like that, nothing's going to activate." Julis didn't lower her flaming sword. Yuuma coughed violently and somehow managed to push himself up. The back of his uniform was torn, and his scrapes burned with heat. "One more time." Yuuma stood. His legs were shaking. Even so, he stood. Julis's jade eyes wavered, just slightly. Then she swung the flames again. A horizontal slash. This time, Yuuma poured everything into the bracelet. Stop, stop, stop. The bracelet's pattern blazed brightly. But the flames didn't stop. Yuuma dropped low on instinct. The flames singed the tips of his hair. A blast of hot wind struck his face. "That's what I'm telling you—your timing is too slow! If you wait until you see the attack coming, it's already too late!" Julis's scolding flew at him. Yuuma, gasping for breath, looked at her. Her face looked angry, but underneath, there was a mix of frustration and worry. This person genuinely cared about him. She was holding back while trying to teach him the terror of real combat. "...Thank you." Yuuma said it quietly. Julis froze mid-motion. "Huh? What, all of a sudden?" "You're training me for my sake. So—thank you." Julis's cheeks flushed bright red—for a reason entirely unrelated to the heat of the flames. "W-what are you saying?! It's not for your sake at all! If you go and die on your own, it'll be my reputation on the line for recommending you to Claudia!" She whipped her head away. Her ponytail swayed like the tail of an angry cat. Yuuma felt a small warmth spread through his chest at her reaction. But he didn't put it into words. "...One more round. Please." Yuuma reset his stance. Julis, her face still red, readied her flaming sword again. "This time—even if it's a fluke, even just once—show me what you can do." Julis drew a deep breath. The flames around her gathered inward. She was going to unleash a genuine strike. Yuuma gripped the bracelet on his right wrist with his left hand. The cold feel of metal. Beyond it, something slept. A power he couldn't control—something unknown and unknowable. But right now, he had no choice but to cling to it. "Come." Julis moved. The flaming sword thrust straight toward Yuuma's chest. This time, she wouldn't deflect it. A true thrust. In that instant, Yuuma reached deep into the bracelet. Stop. No. Not stop. Receive it. The bracelet blazed with brilliant light. The tip of the flaming sword froze dead in the air, a few centimeters from Yuuma's chest. The flames flickered, pinned in place. The heat tried to sear his skin. But the flames didn't advance. "...What?!" Julis's jade eyes went wide. Yuuma's bracelet continued to radiate pale blue light. The flaming sword hung motionless in the air, as if time itself had been stopped. A few seconds later, the bracelet's light winked out. The flaming sword slowly began to move again. Julis pulled it back. "...What was that just now?" "I don't know. But I did it. Just now—I definitely stopped it." Yuuma looked at his own hands. They were trembling faintly. But there was a real, solid response. Julis was silent for a while. Then she extinguished the flaming sword with a flick. "...A fluke. Your focus just happened to align. No guarantee you can do it again." Her voice sounded like she was putting up a front—but somewhere in it, there was a hint of happiness. "But it felt real. Can I practice here again tomorrow?" At Yuuma's words, Julis's eyes widened slightly. "...Do whatever you want. I have no obligation to look after you." Even as she said it, she didn't move to leave. The training ground lights shone quietly down on the two of them. The way back was completely dark by then. The road leading to the outer residential district was sparsely lit, with only the pale blue glow of the lake surface illuminating their feet. For some reason, Julis had insisted on walking Yuuma all the way to his apartment. "Can you even walk the streets at night by yourself? If you collapse again, no one's going to pick you up this time." "I'll be fine. But—thanks." Julis faced forward with a pout. The two of them walked through the back alleys of the outer residential district. Old buildings crowded together, and the alleys were narrow and winding. Faded signs tilted on the walls, and the smell of garbage hung in the air. That was when it happened. Julis suddenly stopped. "...Shh." She covered Yuuma's mouth with her hand and pulled him into the shadows of the alley. Yuuma let himself be pushed against the wall. Julis's body was very close. His heart jumped—for an entirely different reason. But this wasn't the time for that. From across the street, multiple footsteps were approaching. A regular, trained rhythm. Yuuma peeked cautiously out from the shadows. Three men clad in black light armor. The Operations private soldiers—the Celestial Guard. On their chests, the emblem of the Operations Committee. At their waists, batons with built-in star-vein amplification devices. One of the soldiers pulled out a handheld terminal. A photo appeared on the screen. Yuuma's breath caught. That was his face. "...He's most likely still in the outer district. Reports say he hasn't returned to the academy dorms." "Understood. Continue patrol. Target is an Irregular holder. Do not provoke him under any circumstances. Wait for orders from above before retrieval." With that, the soldiers hurried off down the street. Julis kept her hand over Yuuma's mouth until they were completely out of sight. Her palm pressed against his lips. Warm, and slightly damp with sweat. "...They're gone." Julis let out a relieved breath and removed her hand. "That was my photo. Operations soldiers are looking for me." Yuuma's voice was hoarse. Julis's expression was grim. "You're being targeted. And seriously, too. From now on, absolutely no acting alone. No walking around at night either. Understood?" "Understood. ...Thanks, Julis. You saved me." "I didn't save you. I just didn't want to get dragged into it." She said that and started walking briskly. But her pace was slightly slowed so that Yuuma could keep up. Yuuma followed her back, and they took a narrow path that bypassed the drawbridge checkpoint. The pale blue light of the lake stretched their shadows long across the ground. That night. On a hill in the outer residential district. A man stood on an old observation platform overlooking the lake. His silver hair, streaked with white, was slicked back neatly. His eyes were gray and cold as ice. In his hands, always, white gloves. Madias Mesa. He lowered the telescope in his hands, slowly. At the end of the lens was a cheap apartment in the outer residential district. Inside the glow of a window, the silhouette of a black-haired boy moved. Kamishiro Yuuma. "...Retrieval target, confirmed." His voice dissolved into the night wind and faded away. Behind him, three black shadows waited silently. The private soldiers. "An existence that disturbs the laws of the star veins. Only order protects the world. You must be made to exit." He slowly raised his right hand, clad in its white glove. His fingertips caught the pale blue light of the lake and glimmered eerily. "Begin preparations. The time is not far off." The soldiers nodded silently. Madias looked once more at the apartment window. There was no emotion in his expression. Only a cold certainty—as if he were correcting an error in the system. When Yuuma returned to the dorm, Yabuki Eishirou was sprawled on his bed, fiddling with an information terminal. When Yuuma entered the room, he looked up and grinned. "Yo, welcome back. So today was a hot training session with Julis at the arena, huh?" "How do you know that?" "Don't underestimate an information broker. Every rumor in the academy reaches my ears." Eishirou pointed at a paper bag on the desk. "Here, a gift. Star-vein yakisoba from the cafeteria. Not a large portion, though." Yuuma took the bag. The smell of still-warm yakisoba rose from inside. "...Is this really free?" "This time it's on the house. Your life's on the line, after all."