Chapter 552: Overwhelming Power! 2
Stella didn't even care what Hiraga was planning, and she told him that she was going to wait for him.
Come on! Give it your best! Otherwise, I will defeat you here and now!
This clearly showed on her face, full of mockery since she didn't think Hiraga would be able to do anything against her.
"....."
Hiraga was stunned for a moment, and no one could see his facial expression since he wore a mask. However, everyone could see his expression wasn't good.
After all, how could one's emotions be good when they saw all of this?
Tatara should be Stella's nemesis, but she was defeated by one punch.
Mikoto and Rinna were the same.
Mikoto's ice should be Stella's weakness since Stella's element was a fire, so shouldn't the ice weaken Stella?
Yet the result was that ice could do nothing against Stella's flame, even melting quickly.
So what about Rinna?
This girl was even worse since her pet could do nothing against Stella!
Rinna also made Stella roar, screaming, causing his head to be quite dizzy.
Still, while he might not realize it, his body trembled.
"Don't make me wait too long, or else I will smash you here."
"Fufufu..."
Hearing these words, Hiraga started to laugh. This laugh might be his attempt to calm himself, or he might realize that he was a joke in front of Stella. Either way, it was impossible for him to give up easily!
"As expected of the Crimson Princess, but it is still too early for you to think that you can win this match! Let me show you my masterpiece! This is something that I have prepared for from the beginning of the match! Something that can truly defeat you! Come in, Deus Ex Machina!"
Hiraga knew that Stella had a right to show contempt against him, but let's see whether she could maintain her contempt when she saw his masterpiece!
While everyone felt confused and curious about what Hiraga was about to do since, at that moment, everyone thought that no one would be able to shake Stella's victory. Suddenly the earth trembled, and the sky turned darker.
"Eh? Did the sky suddenly darken?"
"You're kidding! I didn't bring an umbrella...wait, what's that?!"
One after the other, people began exclaiming as they looked up at the darkened sky.
This was unavoidable, for the shadows which had darkened the skies had not been cast by clouds but by rubble that was even now falling from on high, falling into the ring one by one as though attracted by some unnamed force.
"Wh-What is this?! All of a sudden, buildings, cars and even trains are starting to drop into the ring! Were they carried in by a tornado?!"
No.
Indeed, the amount and content of the rubble were akin to that of a tornado had it swept through a town. But had it been a natural phenomenon, then such an unnatural occurrence as not having a single piece of rubble land in the stands but instead gathering in the ring would not have happened.
This was the work of a man.
Specifically, the work of the pierrot who laughed mockingly at the chaos sowed throughout the Dome—the work of none other than Reisen Hiraga.
Stretching his strings out beyond the Dome grounds, he had picked up the detritus along the coastline, scrapped cars, and even unmanned trains, bringing them here into the ring.
For what purpose?
Everything would clear soon enough.
"Wh-What?! The mountains of rubble that fell from the skies are now merging! This shape...it's a human?! It's taking a human shape! The mass of rubble is combining as though attracted by a magnet and is forming the shape of a giant human!"
"Th-That's...!"
Renren was dumbfounded as her body was shaken.
Stella, Tsukasa, Renren, Touka, Kanata, Utakata, and Ikazuchi, all the students who joined on the trip before, realized who Hiraga was.
On a stormy night at the Okutama, they had seen this scene.
Noble Art used string to piece together inanimate objects into a giant string puppet.
"Deus Ex Machina. Fufu, it's like a giant robot. Cool, isn't it?"
Fully formed, the puppet of rubble stood fifty meters tall - this was Puppeteer Reisen Hiraga's ace.
Gazing up at the giant of rubble that had appeared in the ring, Stella clicked her tongue.
"As I thought. I had suspected as much a while back...that was you back there at the training camp."
"Fufufu, you took good care of my puppets then," Hiraga said, his voice ringing out from somewhere inside the rubble giant. "You might be able to deal with my previous puppet since it is made from mud, but this time, it is different! Even you, the Crimson Princess, would not be able to withstand a single strike from my masterpiece!"
And so Hiraga's fully-formed ace began its attack on Stella, wielding a twisted combination of concrete and steel pipe that was on its left arm as eight train cars lashed together to form a whip, swinging it down upon the crimson knight in the ring.
The power of that blow was such that it did not merely stop at crushing a single human, smashing the ring itself, and shaking the Dome to its very foundations.
"Too strong! The ring is shattered by the whip of Deus Ex Machina! One-quarter of it has been completely blown away, raising an impressive dust cloud! Is Stella alright?!"
She couldn't be.
Made of stainless steel, the train cars were somewhat lighter, but they nonetheless weighed in on the tons.
One lash from such a whip would reduce a human to unrecognizable atoms.
However...
"...no way."
Hiraga was speechless.
Not only Hiraga but all the people present and people who watched this match were speechless.
"Done?"
Stella was there and grabbed the giant eight-linked train car while with her a single bare hand like a vice. She was completely unscathed, eased, and bored when she caught this whip made from several train cars.
"The Cri-Crimson Princess is completely unscathed! She also caught the car with her bare hand with ease!"
"Wo-Wow..."
The host and Yuuzou opened their eyes wide.
Everyone was the same, even Touka, and the rest of the members of the Hagun Academy were too dumbfounded to say anything.
On the other hand, Tsukasa smiled happily like a child.
Stella didn't care about everyone's reaction and only looked at the giant puppet where Hiraga was hiding.
"Any last words?"
"....."
Hiraga tried to think of words, but Stella said, "Sorry, I don't want to hear anything from you."
At that moment, the scorching heat centered on Stella burning everything.
The battle arena was charred black and melted like ice into a liquid.
Deus Ex Machina, the masterpiece of Hiraga, was completely burnt into ash and disappeared along the wind.
By then, Hiraga was completely exposed and fell to the ground helplessly, but what made everyone even more shocked was the fact he wasn't a people but only a puppet.
When everyone knew this, Hiraga was disqualified, and he was no longer able to participate in this event.
However, compared to Hiraga, Stella's overwhelming victory was something everyone looked forward to.
In front of the difficult adversary, she utterly showed complete domination in this match!
"CRIMSON PRINCESS!"
"CRIMSON PRINCESS!"
Her name was echoed and reverberated throughout the arena.
No, the entire island!
However, Stella ignored that voice and stared at the man she had been eager to fight for.
'You're next.'
Her eyes were full of fighting spirit, eager to show him who was the strongest among them.
Tsukasa smiled, and he was looking forward to the battle between them at the final.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone