Chapter 271: The World's Strongest Swordsman!
"My words were wrong?"
Misogi Utakata looked at Luke in astonishment.
He had not expected that after hearing about Touka's deeds, Luke would not be shaken at all. The boy had even said something like "he was wrong."
Somewhat unable to believe it, Misogi Utakata could not help asking,
"Are you saying that even if your will cannot compare to Touka's, you can still defeat her?"
"Isn't that a little too—"
"No, that isn't what I mean."
Luke spoke up and interrupted Misogi Utakata.
"When I said 'wrong,' I meant that your premise is wrong, senpai."
"You said our wills cannot compare to Todo-senpai's. I think that part is wrong."
The moment Luke said this, not only Misogi Utakata, even Stella and Ikki froze.
Looking at their expressions, Luke smiled, then shifted his gaze back to Touka.
"Why do you think Todo-senpai attracted your attention?"
Luke only said this to open the topic. He did not wait for Ikki and Stella to answer before continuing.
"Misogi-senpai's explanation just now was, 'because you felt the source of her strength.'"
"But why would the source of Todo-senpai's strength affect you?"
Following his words, Ikki, Stella, and even Misogi Utakata gradually fell into thought.
Advancing the topic through guidance was precisely what Luke was good at.
"In truth, the reason is very simple. It is because Todo-senpai has already touched the realm of 'Intent.'"
As Luke spoke, he also slightly released a portion of his sword intent.
In an instant, the attention of the three people who had originally been looking at Touka was directly pulled back to him.
His presence suddenly surged. Clearly, there was nothing there, yet it gave people the tense feeling that a blade was pressing against their body.
Although the displayed effect was different, there was no doubt that it was the same state as Touka's current one.
"The realm of 'Intent'?!"
Ikki looked at Luke in shock.
His comprehension was higher than Stella's and Misogi Utakata's. Vaguely, he had already begun to understand what Luke meant.
"To put it simply, it is influencing the surrounding environment through one's own firm will. This power that comes from the heart possesses strange effects."
Luke turned back and looked at Ikki.
Because of his appearance, Stella and Ikki had not developed into a romantic relationship like in the original story.
Having lost the bond of love, when Ikki faced the shattering of the bond of family in the future, it was very possible that he would fall into a state of complete collapse.
In order to prevent this result from happening, Luke, who looked forward to fighting the future Ikki, decided to take another direction and push him to grow.
"There is definitely more than one path to becoming strong in this world."
"Indeed, Todo-senpai, who fights for others, is very strong. That can be seen from the fact that she can touch the realm of 'Intent.'"
"Although she has only barely touched it and cannot use it in battle yet, that is only a matter of time."
"However, we cannot deny other paths because of that."
Unlike Ikki and Stella, Luke did not have the slightest trace of confusion.
Because he himself was the best proof.
"If someone only thinks for themselves and does not fight for others, does that mean they cannot become strong?"
"That shouldn't be the case."
"No matter what kind of 'will' it is, even if its starting point is extremely small, it does not matter."
"As long as it is firm enough, any thought can become a person's driving force on the path to strength."
"There is no superiority or inferiority between 'wills'!"
…
Lunchtime ended quickly.
After the group ate their fill and rested for a short while, they prepared to split up and begin their search.
During this process, Ikki and Stella both looked absent-minded the whole time.
They were constantly thinking back to what Utakata and Luke had said.
The impact of two different viewpoints on the two of them was enormous.
Especially Luke's final sentence. If one thought about it more deeply, it could even be called a heretical view.
But whether it was Ikki or Stella, they had to admit that they could not find a way to refute those words that overturned the concept of good and evil.
Considering that the area they needed to explore was extremely large, even though Luke and the others had eight people in total, they still seemed somewhat insufficient in front of the entire mountain region.
Therefore, they did not act in small groups. Instead, each of them maintained a certain distance from one another, and under the condition that they could confirm they would be able to provide timely support, everyone entered the mountain area alone.
Just in case, they also left Toutokubara Kanata behind to guard the training camp.
The area Luke was responsible for was the western mountain forest.
Unlike the routes ordinary tourists used to enter and leave, this place was a training area specifically for Blazers.
Grass and trees grew densely in every direction, and the path was quite rugged. From time to time, poisonous snakes would launch sneak attacks at him from hidden places.
However, this kind of environment could not be considered difficult at all for Luke, who had nine years of experience as an adventurer.
Leisurely moving through the mountain path, several hours quickly passed.
"It looks like it's going to rain."
Looking up at the somewhat gray sky, Luke thought this in his heart.
It seemed that in the original work, it had indeed rained at this time, and Stella had even caught a cold because of it.
However, Luke was not very worried about this matter.
Unlike in the original story, Stella had already begun properly excavating her own potential. Under the reinforcement of the concept of "dragon," her physical ability had made considerable progress.
Something like catching a cold was basically unrelated to her now.
After using his student handbook to send Touka an email asking whether the search would continue, he stopped walking.
However, just as he planned to rest briefly and wait for Touka's reply—
Boom—!
Boom—!
Boom—!
Along with a faint rumbling sound, the ground trembled slightly.
It was not an earthquake. This extremely regular vibration made him immediately sense a change in the situation.
Without the slightest hesitation, Luke directly accelerated and rushed in the direction he sensed it from.
A huge, regular tremor, combined with the information Touka had provided before they came.
"Did the giant really appear?!"
This thought instantly surfaced in his mind.
However, before he could think much more—
Bzzzz—!
An extremely terrifying sense of oppression suddenly attacked him, as if descending from the sky!
"!!!"
The sudden pressure felt as though it was about to crush his body.
He abruptly stopped in place, then raised his head and looked into the air.
And then, Luke saw it.
Pure white radiance shone above the sky.
Moonlight?
No, it was not.
That figure was simply too white.
The one illuminating the night sky like pure white light was a woman.
She stood atop a tree directly ahead of him, silently looking at him.
Although she did not speak, this pure-white Valkyrie had already made her attitude clear.
Passage beyond this point was forbidden!
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