Hattori shook his head several times, looking between the rings before finally speaking to Tatsuya with a trace of hesitation.
"Shiba... are we certain Chiba and Saijo shouldn't have been our primary representatives?"
The topic had already been debated during the selection committee meeting, and it was Tatsuya who had voiced the strongest opposition.
"If there were no restrictions on strike zones, those two would be the strongest candidates," Tatsuya replied calmly.
"So you're saying they can't win under the Shield Down rules? You said as much during selection, but seeing the results of that match just now..."
"Chikura-senpai and Kirihara-senpai simply aren't accustomed to the specific flow of Shield Down yet. Minami?"
"Yes, Brother," Minami responded instantly.
Having gently brushed aside Hattori's doubts, Tatsuya called for Minami and walked toward the women's ring. Standing beside Minami was a first-year girl, her face pale with nerves; she was to be Minami's partner for the Newcomers' Division of the event.
"Erika," Tatsuya called out.
"Yeah?"
"Spar with Minami for a bit."
"In a Solo match?"
"Yes."
"Hmm... Fine by me."
Erika looked Minami up and down, her gaze appraising the girl from head to toe before she nodded in satisfaction and hopped into the ring. Minami followed, still somewhat dazed by the sudden development, but stopped just as Tatsuya leaned in to whisper a few words into her ear.
"Thank you for waiting, Chiba-senpai. I look forward to this," Minami said as she took her stance.
"I wonder what kind of secret plan he gave you. This should be fun," Erika teased.
"Both of you—ready," Tatsuya commanded.
Following the tradition of the Nine Schools Competition, where referees do not stand on the canvas, Tatsuya acted as the judge from the sidelines. Instead of an electronic buzzer, he blew a sharp note on his whistle.
Erika lunged at Minami with a direct assault. She eschewed feints—not out of contempt for Minami, but because her curiosity about Tatsuya's "advice" was too great to ignore. Facing Erika's ferocious charge, Minami operated her CAD with swift, icy composure.
"Wait... what!?"
Erika's body suddenly drifted upward. She had essentially "surfed" onto a barrier created by Minami. Even if she neutralized the inertia of the impact, gravity still existed; however, once her feet were cut off from the floor, she had no leverage to resist.
"Was that... Senpai's Phalanx?" Hattori asked, stunned.
"No," Tatsuya explained. "That sequence simply moved a single-layer anti-object barrier in a continuous trajectory. The principle is the same as a standard Movement Magic. Movement Magic continuously alters the coordinates of a target; in this case, the target just happens to be the deployment coordinates of the barrier itself."
"Is it really that simple?"
"The difficulty level between Minami's sequence and Phalanx is worlds apart. The offensive Phalanx is a multilayered, high-intensity barrier that sacrifices duration for maximum speed and strength. Minami's version focuses on persistence; you can't expect it to exert the kind of crushing pressure that Katsuto-senpai's does."
Tatsuya then turned his attention to Asako Chikura.
"I believe that demonstrated how to handle an opponent who forces a close-quarters brawl."
"...I can't use a barrier like that, though," Chikura admitted.
"You specialize in Vector Reversal, don't you, Senpai?"
"...Well, yes."
"Then simply apply Vector Reversal the moment their shield makes contact to lift them off the ground, then use Movement Magic to slide them out of bounds."
Tatsuya's attention shifted to the data terminal vibrating in his inner pocket, causing him to miss the look on Erika's face—she clearly had something to say about being used as a test subject.
"The Pillars Break team is ready. I'm heading over there; can I leave things here to you?"
"Yeah, go ahead. I've got it," Hattori nodded. It was a pre-arranged move. Just to be sure, Hattori glanced over at the men's ring. Sawaki was handing his CAD to a third-year engineer for fine-tuning, while nearby, Chiaki Hirakawa was listening intently to whatever Tomitsuka was saying.
For the Ice Pillars Break practice, the school used a fifty-meter pool hidden deep within the training woods. In previous years, setting up the ice pillars for practice took a significant amount of time, but this year, they had managed to cut the setup time by more than seventy-five percent.
"Ah, Brother. Everything is ready."
"Good work, Miyuki. That was remarkably fast."
"I could never keep you waiting, Brother."
Miyuki's devotion was so transparent that Kanon Chiyoda looked visibly exhausted just witnessing it.
"I never would have dreamed someone could create twenty-four water pillars simultaneously, then freeze and shape them all in one go," Kanon remarked.
"Tatsuya-san, did you design that water-flow control sequence?" Shizuku asked.
"The application of Similarity Copy Theory was my idea, but Miyuki is the one who made it practical," Tatsuya credited.
"And it was Brother who took the magic I use by instinct and reconstructed it into a functional Activation Square," Miyuki added.
"...At any rate, shall we begin?"
At Tatsuya's word, Miyuki moved to her position. Kanon and Shizuku scrambled to keep up, taking their places on the opposite side. It was a two-on-one handicap match, yet the observers—Honoka and Izumi—were both certain that Miyuki held the advantage.
Honoka was technically there because the Mirage Bat setup was running behind schedule, but her true motivation was simply wanting to be near Tatsuya. Izumi, on the other hand, was the representative for the Newcomers' Ice Pillars Break, so her presence was genuinely for the sake of observation—even if she, too, harbored her own private admirations.
"Begin."
At Tatsuya's signal, the light turned blue, and a storm of magic erupted within the pool.
After five consecutive mock battles, Kanon sat in a folding chair with a sour expression, staring off into space. Miyuki and Shizuku stood nearby, looking troubled and unsure of how to proceed. Tatsuya sighed and stepped in to mediate.
"Chiyoda-senpai on offense, Shizuku on defense. The basic strategy isn't wrong," Tatsuya began.
"Are you saying I didn't lose because of a gap in magical power? Then what went wrong?" Kanon snapped.
"It wasn't a mistake so much as a lack of coordination. It's only the first day, so that's to be expected."
"...Specifically, what was it?"
"Senpai, your magic activation zone and Shizuku's Information Reinforcement zone were overlapping slightly."
"Sorry, Senpai. That was my fault," Shizuku apologized, bowing her head.
"Indeed," Tatsuya continued. "To counter Miyuki's area-of-effect magic, you tried to expand the reinforcement to the entire field, but Information Reinforcement is a spell that should be cast on individuals, not areas. Furthermore, in Pillars Break, you only need one pillar left to stay in the game. You should consider narrowing your focus for reinforcement."
"I see. I understand," Shizuku nodded.
"Brother... do you have no advice for me?" Miyuki asked.
She looked up at him like a puppy waiting for a pat on the head, but she was quickly interrupted by Shizuku, who stepped forward with a rare, faint smile.
"I'll give you advice once you lose, Miyuki," Tatsuya joked. "But if you hold back just to get it, there will be a punishment."
"A punishment... I—I would never lose on purpose! That would be disrespectful to Senpai and Shizuku."
"A punishment from Tatsuya-san... that actually sounds a little interesting," Shizuku mused quietly.
Miyuki's eyes widened in surprise at Shizuku's comment, while behind them, Honoka and Izumi appeared to be lost in their own vivid imaginations. Only Kanon, watching the scene with a cold, clear eye, directed a look of pure exasperation toward Tatsuya.
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