Anime, Girlfriend Shokuhou Misaki.

"It's time..."

With a sharp whooshing sound, the sword, accelerated to its limit, thrust forward, and a fleeting glint of light flashed in Haramura Makoto's eyes.

The blade sliced ​​through bone and flesh, and I could feel the sensation of it piercing through me.

Blood, redder than magma, spurted out, wetting the battle circle that had transformed into white floating islands.

The pool of blood was boiling and scalding hot, like a burning flame.

no doubt.

This is dragon blood that belongs exclusively to Stella, the "Red Lotus Princess".

"Ahhhhhhh-"

There was absolutely no mercy shown; it could even be described as ruthless.

Stella's abdominal pressure increased, as if her internal organs would be squeezed out at any moment, and she groaned in pain as she pressed her wound.

This is an injury that would be fatal to an ordinary person, completely rendering them unable to move.

However, Stella is now a dragon.

In addition to sharp claws, a powerful body, and sturdy scales, dragons also possess regenerative abilities far exceeding those of normal creatures.

For injuries like this, Stella only needs a minute to fully recover.

"As expected, I'm going to lose again."

Vision was swaying, and limbs felt weak.

"I'm so unwilling to accept this. I've been working so hard every day, and yet I still suffered such a crushing defeat."

If she had lost after a truly exhilarating battle, she wouldn't be in this state of mind.

Although she is very competitive, she is not necessarily unable to accept it if her lover is the winner.

just.

So far, she hasn't even managed to force Haramura Makoto to reveal his true strength.

Putting everything else aside, just look at Makoto Haramura's spirit armor, of which he has only used three out of twelve quarters so far.

"Stella, you must seek your own true strength."

"Your power should be more than this, shouldn't it?"

In her dazed state, even though she shouldn't have been able to hear clearly, every word Makoto Haramura spoke still reached Stella's ears perfectly.

(What? What does this mean? They clearly gave it their all.)

(But why is Makoto's voice so resolute?)

Yes, Makoto Haramura spoke with absolute certainty.

This confident tone made it seem as if Makoto Haramura knew her better than she knew herself.

Do I really have any other power?

I've already pushed the dragon's power to its limit. No matter how hard I try recently, it won't grow as rapidly as it did a few days ago.

"Haven't you had this since you were a child? Haven't you always understood it?"

"The things that have sustained you until now."

Makoto Haramura's voice came through again.

What has sustained me until now?

It's about the safety of family members, and the safety of the nation.

It is precisely because of these two qualities that she possesses unwavering perseverance and is able to climb ever higher with high spirits.

These words struck Stella like a thunderclap, shattering her heart and filling her with excitement.

Yes!

It should be described as unwavering perseverance.

What made her proud and proud of herself was never her powerful sword-wielding ability, nor her powerful magic.

It was not his own indomitable willpower, but his own tenacious perseverance.

I didn't have any special abilities when I was young.

He awakened his superpowers when he was six years old.

Theoretically speaking, someone with a superpower like her shouldn't have awakened at such a young age.

The child's body simply couldn't handle it.

Therefore, the doctors summoned by her father and mother almost all concluded that she would not live past the age of eight.

Sooner or later, due to the increasingly powerful magic emanating from them, they will eventually be burned to death by flames.

But she persevered.

If her body temperature couldn't come down on its own, she would force it to.

As long as you feel heat, regardless of the season, jump right into the water.

She persevered for two years, and finally reached the point where a Blade Master could barely train their Blade-Cutting Ability.

This way, she has no way to cool down with water.

The level of pain is far greater than before.

After all, she had been unconsciously releasing her magic, causing the burning sensation, so the intensity wouldn't have been too strong.

But now, if she wants to control her superpower, she needs to actively activate it on the surface of her body.

This is far more intense than the previous scorching heat.

Every time she felt that burning sensation, she felt as if she was about to die.

But she persevered.

It's just because she misses the time when she was a child, when she could be held by her parents and lie in their arms.

I can still sit at the table and eat with my family.

After she awakened her sword-wielding ability, she could no longer do any of these things.

So she persevered.

It took her a year to master her superpower, preventing it from going out of control due to the dissipation of magic.

Then, problems arose in the country of Familia.

Although his father always greeted his family with a smile, the alliance was far too harsh on these small countries, especially those without high-level swordsmen.

It is precisely because in this society where the swordsman is supreme that Familion has no powerful swordsmen.

The entire country doesn't have a single A-rank magic knight, and the number of B-rank knights can be counted on one hand.

So, once again, because of her family, she started to train herself.

She was a born A-rank magic knight, and as long as she could fully develop her strength, she could become the protector of this country.

This will allow Familia to hold its head high within the alliance and fight for more rights for the country.

Therefore, she began to train herself again.

In order to better develop her abilities, she even traveled across the ocean to Japan.

Here, with a systematic education, her abilities have grown significantly.

With the help of her lover, she even completely mastered her hidden superpower.

I let my guard down!

Stella came to realize this fact.

Although I always boast that I have been working hard and constantly improving myself.

However, she knew very well that she had become complacent.

After fully awakening her dragon powers, her daily increase in strength led her to believe that she was now strong enough to secure sufficient benefits for Familion.

In fact, this is indeed the case.

At this point, Stella has proven to the world that as an A-rank knight, she has become overwhelmingly powerful over other knights.

I'm no longer so eager to win the Seven Star Sword Dance Festival.

I didn't actually want to avenge myself against Cheng.

After all, he's my lover! Losing to a lover who has helped me so much isn't so bad, is it?

This is her truest thought deep down.

Wanting to surpass Makoto Haramura was merely a superficial thought, a self-deceiving idea.

But that won't do!

I feel ashamed of myself for failing Cheng's expectations of me.

Mingcheng has awakened a new superpower in preparation for today's battle and has even created a new sword technique.

To approach Cheng with such a half-hearted attitude is undoubtedly an insult to Cheng's seriousness.

At the same time, this was also an insult to the people of Familia and to the expectations of his father and mother.

Didn't I already know that?

How high were the expectations of her father, mother, and the people after they learned that she had made it to the semi-finals?

They all hoped that their country's princess would receive the highest honor of being a student knight in Japan.

"That's right. Even if it's not my own idea, even if it's just because I'm carrying the expectations of others, I will still reach the peak and win the title of Seven Star Sword King."

Stella's eyes shone brightly.

The crimson scales on his body shone brighter than ever before.

Excitement radiated from her face, her pupils gleamed, and her strong will enabled her to stand up.

A massive stone gate appeared in her mind.

The chains binding her waist snapped completely with a slight struggle, shattering into fragments that fell to the ground.

The crimson stone gate was surrounded by flickering flames.

The stone gate was carved with patterns that resembled planets. It was very heavy, yet it had a strange sense of familiarity.

Stella slowly walked forward and placed her small handprint on the stone door.

"This is not an obstacle; it seems like a path I should have taken long ago."

"No, it should be said that we've only gone halfway through, and we still haven't finished."

Although she didn't quite understand, just by placing her palm on the stone door, it seemed as if a lot of information flooded into her mind.

She should have arrived here much earlier.

At the same time, she could also sense it.

He could easily push open the seemingly heavy stone door.

That's what she thought, and that's what she did.

Give it a gentle push forward.

"Boom——"

The stone door slowly slid open to both sides, and the blazing white light shining in from inside instantly engulfed everything.

At the same time, Stella's aura became ethereal and intangible, and the shackles floating above her head seemed to break.

"It finally begins."

Makoto Haramura burst out laughing and then jumped back a step.

at the same time!

"Sincerity..."

Stella whispered for a moment—