Encore 51 — Hysteria (VII)

"I'll destroy you. I honestly don't care if you want to beat me because my mother's here."

"You don't even respect the legend that your mother is?! The one Magia who was as great as Reiko Hinamachi."

"Sakura Hysteria—"

Isla activated her Singularity. Sakura petals drifted down from the sky above Aria.

"Petals? Is this her Singularity?"

(Using aether doesn't tire me out like it used to. Seems like aether isn't hindered by mana. I'll finish this before her Draconic Metamorphosis transcends its current level.)

Draconic Metamorphosis was Aria's Singularity. It allowed Aria to transform into a human-dragon hybrid over time, although, she could not use 100% of it.

Isla had five minutes until Aria would be able to breathe fire at a destructive rate.

"—Ice Spears."

The petals around the floating girl turned into pink ice spears.

"What?"

Aria flew upwards to dodge them but they followed her.

"Crap! Can I not dodge this?!"

She braced herself; the pink ice spears phased through her, not doing any damage.

"Huh?!"

Sakura Hysteria can be used for multiple purposes, however, Isla mainly uses it for illusions, hypnosis, and entering spells into reality. This time, she made illusionary ice spears to distract Aria as she prepared her real attack.

"Fervent Sky!"

She launched Fervent Sky at Aria. It slammed her into the ground.

"Fuck!"

The girl tried to push the large orb of aether off of her. It hindered her like a massive weight. Isla lifted the orb and slammed it down towards her. That moment gave Aria the time to escape, however...

"Python!"

The orb exploded and chased Aria as lasers of aether. They hit Aria, putting holes through her. She started leaking blue pixels.

"Shit. What the fuck is she hitting me with?! I keep on blocking with mana but it goes through. I have to stall..."

Aria whispered to herself.

(I could overpower her, but she's not normal. My first attack was rendered useless and she seemed okay after I slammed her into the fountain... I'd rather not waste mana.)

Isla previously blocked Aria's first hit with aether. She predicted that first attack and nullified it with aether. It was a risky move but it paid off. Now, Aria was hesitant on attacking directly which provided Isla with an advantage. All she needed was for Aria to stay in a single place. For that, she needed to cut down on her mobility.

"My target is your wings. Sakura Hysteria: Luminous Rain."

Knives of light rained down on Aria, puncturing her wings, taking her down to the ground. The moment she touched the ground, blue flames converged at her hand.

"I thought she wasn't going to attack!"

Isla retreated behind the remnants of the fountain.

"Fucking Ghost Flames!"

The blue flames bombarded the structure Isla was hiding behind. Aria did not let up her assault.

(She has more mana than me. She could probably keep this up for a while since Ghost Flames consumes little mana for her. Meanwhile, I've used up half of my mana reserve. I still have aether left. I just need to hit him with that.)

A destructive spell. One that could blow away the entire school if she did not hold back.

The remnants of the fountain began to crumble away. Isla fired a Python towards Aria to stop her spell.

"Fuck! Her weird ass mana! What's up with it?!"

Both Isla and Aria moved around. Aria still fired her Ghost Flames at Isla as she escaped from the Python lasers chasing her.

"Hm?"

The white-haired girl ran towards Aria instead of keeping her distance. She faced her hand towards Isla.

"Sakura Hysteria: Hydro Arrows!"

Water projectiles surrounded Aria as she focused on Isla.

(Are these illusions or the real thing?)

Isla did destroy Aria's wings so that she would be easier to target but she also did it to confuse Aria when it truly mattered.

(Shit! I'll just assume they're real!)

Aria spun around and burned all of the water arrows with her blue flames. By the time she rotated fully, Isla was within five steps of her. The brown-haired girl pierced towards her opponent with her hand.

"It's my win,"

Isla confidently announced, dodging. She stopped and put her palm on Aria's chest.

"Wave Ripples: Version Shockwave."

At that instant, it was almost as if time froze for Aria. Isla imbued aether throughout Aria's body. It reverberated through her body and overflowed, bursting from the inside.

Aria exploded into blue pixels, defeating her completely.

[Isla Chibana wins, meaning that all of Aria Shinomiya's points are transferred to her.]

·———·

After the match, Isla met up with her mother. Morisa smiled as Isla approached her.

"That was short yet entertaining."

"I had to finish her before she noticed."

"That was bullshit! You cheated!"

Aria came marching in towards Isla. She snatched her collar and shouted in her face.

"How comes my attacks never hurt you? Your mana always got through mine! It was clear cheating! You—"

"Aria,"

Morisa called out to her. Aria turned. Morisa stared at her, bored of her tantrum. The girl shivered.

"Don't be a sore loser. What Isla was using for the majority of the match was not mana, but aether."

As Morisa explained this, the other trainees began gossiping. Aria opened her eyes in disbelief.

"Aether? But... That would make her..."

"An Irregular. She outsmarted you with her Singularity and finished you with a lethal spell by overflowing you with aether."

Hearing that directly from Morisa, Aria realised what she meant, even if she was not saying it. Aria clutched her head, shaking it in disbelief.

(I was playing right in her hands from the start?!)

"You may be more powerful than Isla but her new tricks and intelligence got the better of you."

The woman turned to her daughter.

"As the current No.1, what squad do you want to join?"

"I'm No.1?"

"Yes."

Isla originally had 1548 points and Aria had 2009 points. When added together, they would equal 3757 points which would put her in first place. Sho Murakami had 3072 points.

"So, what is it?"

"I'd like to join... the Ironhide Squad, of course."

That was only the beginning of Isla's journey, the same as Kazuya's and Yuichi's.