Editing Seikoku no Ryuu Kishi: Volume 6 Chapter 6 (section)

===Part 3===
After the lottery and matchups were concluded, the beginning of the first round was announced immediately.

“I’m sorry, Ash. I understand your current dilemma, and if possible, I’d also like to help you win…but this is the sacred stage of the Five Hundred Years Festival. As the Student Council President, I can’t show any mercy.”

After making that declaration, Rebecca began to equip the Ark that Cú Chulainn had presented her with. After a flash of light, Rebecca’s entire body radiated a dazzling light. After her naked outline faintly appeared, the crowd went into an uproar. Immediately afterwards, a red Ark appeared. Although the helmet protecting her head helped to increase her defence, it did so without sacrificing any of the beauty of the armour, and it added to the overall brave atmosphere of the armour. This was the second type of Ark that was revealed to the public for the first time since the duel between Rebecca and Oscar.

“Right from the beginning and already…!”

Ash deeply felt that Rebecca was being serious this time. When he was so nervous that his mouth became dry, Eco sternly rebuked from behind him as if to cheer him on

“What’s so surprising? An Ark of that degree will be smashed to pieces by a single strike from the treasured sword of Avalon’s Holy Dragons’ Emperor Family!”

“That’s easy to say…anyway, all we need to do is be victorious. Hold on tight!”

“I know!”

After Eco grabbed onto Ash’s waist, she began to recite the chant to present his Ark.

“Almete, Gorjal, Peto, Espaldar, Brafoneras, Faldaje, Escarcelas, Bufetas, Hombreras, Brazales, Codales, Antebrazos, Manoplas, Quijotes, Guardas, Grebas, Escarpes — Espolón!”

Ash’s body was suddenly enveloped by an extraordinary amount of magical energy. Based on appearances alone, it was not possible to notice any changes. Ash still appeared to be wearing his normal Dragonar clothing, rather than an Ark. The surprised voices of the audience could be heard amidst the crowd. The Ark which still did not have a clear shape yet was overflowing with magical energy, and even exceeded that of Rebecca’s Ark. Its appearance aside, Ash’s Ark seemed to have the upper hand when it came to performance. It was just that after the end of the match, it was highly likely that he would experience severe muscle aches…

“Hmm. I would like to say this again first, it’s not that I refuse to show mercy — but under these circumstances, I don’t have any margin to hold back.”

At the same time that Rebecca softly uttered that, the bell to mark the beginning of the match sounded.

“Appear! The certain hit magic spear — Gáe Bolg!”

“Appear!  The all-conquering steel that can slash through anything, a holy sword meant for the knight of all knights — its name is Excalibur!”

The voices of the crowd drowned out the sound of Rebecca’s and Ash’s chants, and only the people confronting each other on both sides could hear each other’s voices. But this coincided with Ash’s intentions. Ash clearly knew that his own fighting technique had always been unorthodox, so he didn’t want to leak out too much information to the audience. Not to mention that Uriel, who was from the Chevron Kingdom was currently in the VIP spectator gallery. This Third Prince was a dangerous character that even Oscar did not take lightly. If what Oscar said was true, then his ambition would likely cause unrest throughout the continent.

“You’re asking for trouble if you think about other things during a battle!”

Rebecca suddenly shouted out loudly, while her eyes felt so sharp that they almost made Ash shiver. He gripped the hilt tightly with both hands, and finally restrained his impulse to tremble. He used his legs to tighten his position on the saddle so that he wouldn’t fall off Brigid’s back. Cú Chulainn soared into the sky above the arena. And then stopped at a height of fifty metres above the ground.

“Magic spear Gáe Bolg — [{{Furigana|Ring of Fate|Wheel of Fortune}}]!”

“You’re using your ultimate technique right at the very beginning!?”

At the same time that a geometric pattern appeared in the sky, a blast of magic exploded.

“Brigid!”

Brigid understood Ash’s intentions, and jumped backwards. And the very instant that the aura from [Wheel of Fortune] which charged forth like a raging wave seemed like it would pierce the earth, it suddenly changed its trajectory to fly parallel to the ground, and once again moved straight towards Ash.

“Damn it…!”

There was absolutely no way to evade it this time, and Ash had no choice but to use Excalibur to counter it. A powerful flash of light obscured his field of vision. Then the sound of an explosion reverberated throughout the arena.

“Ugh!”

“Kyaaaaahhhh!”

Although he was barely able to cancel out the [Wheel of Fortune], Ash, Eco and Brigid were still subjected to the impact of the aftermath.

“Kuh!”

Brigid issued a sharp cry, as it struggled with its four legs to remain upright, and thus avoiding the situation of falling over. In terms of the rules, one would be disqualified as soon as they fell off their dragon, which was why the rider couldn’t let go of the reins under any circumstances.

“Since that’s the case, all I can do is release all of Excalibur’s power and break through the [Wheel of Fortune] and Rebecca-san at the same time!”

“If you knew that, you should’ve done that from the very beginning!”

Eco coughed incessantly, while complaining to Ash at the same time. But Rebecca didn’t give them any room to relax, and followed up her assault with a second wave.

“[Wheel of Fortune]!”

“You really are being ruthless, Rebecca-san!”

Ash switched his stance to use the sword one-handed, while he used his other hand to take control of the reins. Brigid charged forth without stopping according to Ash’s instructions. However, it was not the same as the Maestro which could freely move around in the three-dimensional space, as an Asia was limited to moving in a two-dimensional manner over the surface of the ground. From Rebecca’s perspective, Ash’s only way to evade was by running around on the ground.

“Are you complaining, Ash? If you keep this up, it looks like you’ll be at the mercy of Oscar’s outrageous requests!”

Rebecca stood on top of Cú Chulainn’s head as she shouted

“According to the agreement between you and Oscar, if you’re able to win, not only does she have to give up on involving you and Eco, but also giving up on me, right!? Honestly speaking…I’m very happy. Because this is the first time that someone has come forward to protect me.”

“Eh…?”

Ash was unable to hear the last part of that clearly. Compared to the profound emotions of those words, the magic bullet that [Wheel of Fortune] released flickered brightly, and mercilessly charged towards Ash and the others. In response to the magic bullet that was coming towards him, Ash thought that just when he was about to be hit, he could use Brigid’s powerful legs to dodge; and if he failed to evade it, then he could strike it down with Excalibur. As he desperately racked his brains for a way to escape, Ash felt spurts of anxiety. If this continued to drag on, Brigid’s physical stamina would sooner or later be depleted. When it came to that, he would have no choice but to defend with his own body, and Rebecca would have total control over the situation. He had to quickly come up with a countermeasure…!

And in that moment, Ash felt that something wasn’t quite right.

''—Could it be…''

The name of the attack, [Wheel of Fortune], was the same as the one used against Oscar, it was a streak of light; he remembered that its firepower was incredible, and much like a turbulent storm. In comparison, the current [Wheel of Fortune] was not the same thing. The explosive energy of each strike was quite small, and it was another type of attack entirely. It was basically like a bullet.

''—At the beginning, I thought that Rebecca used her maximum firepower so as to prevent me from having any opportunities in an attempt to defeat me with one strike. But in that case, why is she frequently resorting to such fragmented attacks? Did she change her tactic to gradually wear out Brigid’s stamina? No, a petty tactic like this doesn’t suit Rebecca-san’s style…''

“Kuuu…”

At that time, Brigid let out a breathless cry. Probably on the brink of exhausting its physical stamina, its mobility also began to decline significantly, and the magic bullets also grazed its scales. Not long afterwards, Brigid finally stopped. The scene of its struggle to catch up to Lancelot during the ‘Aries Dragon Riding Festival’ once again recurred.

“Brigid!”

Brigid no longer responded to Ash’s calls, and simply continued panting breathlessly. Even so, Rebecca continued to mercilessly rain down a flurry of magic bullets. Upon seeing that Brigid was no longer moving around, she arranged eight magic bullets in the air to form a ring, and launched them all for a simultaneous attack.

“Uooooooohhh!”

Ash changed his stance to grip the sword with both his hands as he held it up high. At the same time that the radiance of his sword and the eight bullets collided with each other — a surprisingly massive explosion which shook the very earth took place. Dark smoke was emitted from the arena, and it completely devoured the figures of Ash, Eco and Brigid. A terrifying silence then shrouded the entire arena.