“What is that? It looks amazing!” Claire looked left and right at the dumbfounded people around her, pointing at the golden glow continuously gathering beside Star and String, asking the others.
“That’s a Crest. That’s the Crest—every Crest Knight’s strongest technique.”
“Lord Star and String actually used her Crest first? Th-this is unbelievable. Is she trying to show us her power?”
Seeing the appearance of the Crest, Cecilia’s nails dug deep into her palm. Even in her eyes, this was likely a show of force.
Lilia and Star and String wanted to utterly defeat Rita without reservation, maybe even kill her on the spot.
Cecilia quickly glanced at Lilia sitting beside her from the corner of her eye. At this moment, Lilia’s lips were nearly up to her ears, her face filled with an excitement as if she’d finally avenged a deep grudge, staring unblinkingly at the arena, as though she wanted to imprint Rita’s defeat in her eyes.
“Oh, so amazing.” Ilya clapped her hands, praising with a flat tone.
Indeed, it’s amazing.
Rita watched as the golden halo rose higher, gritting her teeth.
Just feeling that force gathering was enough to bring sweat to Rita’s forehead.
Earlier, she hadn’t gained the upper hand at all; the only reason she could catch Star and String’s movements was because they were far apart.
It was just like a teacher on the podium, able to see every little movement of the students below. Star and String could also read her moves, but she’d only managed to dodge in the end.
Rita wanted to win fair and square, but that didn’t mean she had to just stand and take such a powerful attack.
Since the beginning, Rita had been searching for an opening. She would never let go of the biggest weakness—when her opponent used the power of the Crest.
Rita charged a few steps forward, thrusting her sword toward Star and String’s chest.
In a moment like this, Rita didn’t go for a slash, which had an even bigger opening, but instead launched a thrust at her fastest speed, hoping to wound her opponent as much as possible.
Defeating her opponent in a single move—Rita never counted on such a thing.
But just before her sword touched Star and String, a sense of crisis blared in Rita’s mind. She was forced to change course and leap back at once.
A blade of light shot toward her even faster than she moved. If she hadn’t dodged in time, she would have been hit head-on.
Even so, the fabric at Rita’s arm was torn open by the wild energy, the shredded cloth fluttering like banners in the wind.
The blade of light that grazed her smashed straight into the barrier set up by the mages, leaving a shocking gash in the shield, as if smashing a pane of glass.
Rita glanced at the wound on her own shield, now being mended, and then at the giant bow in Star and String’s hand, from which a scythe-like blade of light had grown. The source of the earlier attack was obvious.
More importantly, her plan was now impossible.
Behind Star and String, golden threads wove into a rose-gold Crest that shimmered like a sky full of stars. Star and String raised her arm high, firing an unremarkable light arrow into the Crest.
After a brief silence, the Crest began to churn, like a dragon unleashing a deafening roar. That surging power flowed back into Star and String’s body.
Wings like nebulas unfolded behind her—wings so dazzling they seemed to darken even the noon sky.
Star and String let go of her giant bow, but the bow floated in midair. Rainbow-hued strings connected its limbs, turning the weapon that had claimed countless lives into something that resembled a harp.
Her slender fingers plucked the strings—no, bowstrings—gently.
Is it coming?
Rita gripped her sword tightly, preparing to face an attack from who-knew-where, when she suddenly felt something brush past her. Her shoulder grew heavy, and blood oozed out, staining her clothes red.
So fast.
“Missed again?” Star and String lifted her brow, her fingertips dancing across the strings again. “What a shame.”
Without thinking, Rita dodged to the side. The ground where she’d stood just a moment before was riddled with finger-sized holes.
Then, another splash of blood blossomed. Blood dripped from Rita’s calf, staining the ground at her feet.
Buzz.
Star and String’s fingers swept over the bowstrings in succession. This time, Rita finally caught the direction of the attack.
Not from Star and String’s side, but from above.
More than ten tiny stars, each a different color, hovered above her, their light dimmed by the sun but still flickering with a chilling glow.
As Rita noticed them, the stars fell.
No way to dodge—she could only brace herself!
Rita clenched her teeth and swung her sword to meet the falling meteors at point-blank range.
The battle raged on. Though not long in duration, every second dragged out for Rita and all the onlookers.
So dazzling. This fighting style was just too dazzling, like a pouring galaxy, a storm of stars.
Beneath the sweeping stellar storm, Rita’s silver sword was already smeared with blood.
Even the barrier protecting the audience was riddled with holes. Though the damage was only from the aftershocks, the repairs couldn’t keep up with the destruction.
“So strong. Is this Lord Star and String’s full power?” Vanessa swallowed, realizing she wouldn’t last long under such ferocious attacks.
“I don’t know, but that Rita is still hanging on. It’s incredible,” another Holy Knight replied, their tone unconsciously shifting to support Rita.
Facing such a powerful foe and still enduring, challenging an unbeatable opponent—even if the Holy Knight didn’t know why, he found himself wishing Rita would win.
“Let’s hope… she can hold on a bit longer.”
“She can’t last much longer,” Lilia said, seeing victory within reach. Instead of smiling, she pressed her lips into a generous expression. “Cecilia, if you surrender for her now, maybe she’ll suffer a bit less. If this keeps up, she could lose her life right here.”
“Yes, yes, things don’t look good. Don’t you think so, Helag?”
Cecilia knew full well that Rita was fighting with everything she had. Even though Rita had sworn that morning to bring back victory, the current situation offered Cecilia nothing but worry.
Losing to a Crest Knight wasn’t truly shameful—a Crest Knight was one of humanity’s peak warriors. Even if Star and String held back her strongest attacks to avoid harming the audience, her displayed strength was still terrifying.
It had been hard enough for Rita to deal with Dolores before, and now, faced with Star and String…
Should she really stop the match for Rita’s safety?
For Rita’s sake, should she…
“It is hard.”
Cecilia was racing through her thoughts when Helag finally spoke, slowly.
“But, she, has strength, not useless, not just a bit, losing—not easy.”
“If Star and String isn’t going all out, just remember every arrow she uses, and when you get a chance, put your sword right to her throat.”
Brownie weighed the sword in his hand as he spoke to Rita.
“Huh? If I could do that, it’d be great!” Rita gaped.
“It’s difficult, but it’s simpler than the other way.”
“The other way? What’s that?” Rita scratched her head.
“Titles are usually tied to someone’s achievements or fighting style. Star and String’s is obviously the latter. Once she unleashes her Crest, you’ll understand. I don’t really want you to see that, though—it’ll be troublesome for you if it gets to that point.”
“Uh, what’s that got to do with the other way?”
“It does.” Brownie nodded. “If she really does that, the method I taught you to find openings won’t work at all. If you want to beat her, you’ll only have one way: to unleash the Crest you can’t use yet.”
Star and String, huh. No wonder she has such a weird, chuuni title—it’s literal.
Rita dodged one stellar strike after another from above. Each individual star wasn’t that strong, but their speed and number made them impossible to avoid.
No other choice. She wasn’t skilled yet, but she could only give it a try!