Chapter 434: Kurono Is Dead Inside!
Luke watched the blonde girl brimming with fighting spirit in the arena, his emotions somewhat complicated.
Touka was exceptionally strong this year.
Her growth had far exceeded everyone's expectations.
Although there was no direct comparison, almost everyone who had watched her matches believed that if Touka faced Moroboshi Yuudai again this year, she would definitely win.
Her strength was obvious.
But very few people knew what had driven her to become this powerful.
Thinking about that, Luke quietly sighed.
Because he knew better than anyone what Touka had been desperately pushing herself toward.
'One more time!'
'I want to challenge him one more time!'
That desire had carried the girl all the way into the semifinals.
Having a swordswoman work so desperately just for another chance to challenge him made it impossible for Luke not to feel moved.
Unfortunately, that small dream would never come true.
Because her opponent was stronger than her.
Luke felt somewhat regretful as well.
Touka had taken him as her goal and fought until only a single step remained. Losing here felt almost cruel.
But that was reality.
Just as she had ended Shizuku's dream, it was now her turn to experience the same thing.
Luke understood both fighters extremely well.
As far as he was concerned, Touka had virtually no chance of winning this match.
It felt somewhat unfair to Touka's determination to admit it, but if Luke had to choose, he wanted to fight Ikki more than Touka.
While those complicated thoughts crossed his mind, the second competitor entered the arena.
"Entering from the blue gate is a competitor with extremely poor talent in mana!"
"His Blazer rank is the absolute lowest, F-rank, with abilities even below ordinary standards!"
"Yet through extraordinary martial arts and swordsmanship, he has compensated for every weakness in mana with unparalleled technique!"
"He fought his way upward from the very bottom, winning battle after battle until finally reaching this stage!"
"He is the Another One—Kurogane Ikki!"
"He has already defeated last year's champion, Moroboshi, and runner-up, Shironosaki!"
"Afterward, he even overcame the man known as Sword Eater, Kurashiki Kuraudo!"
"Now, only one victory separates him from the finals!"
"Can his extraordinary swordsmanship carve open the path ahead and make him the first F-rank knight in history to reach the summit?!"
"Let us witness it together!"
"And now, I declare—"
"The first semifinal of the Seven Star Sword Art Festival officially begins!"
...
"Luke Ashburn!"
The two approaching while calling out to him were Shizuku and Arisuin.
"I don't see Stella anywhere. I thought for sure she'd be with you."
Arisuin first glanced around Luke before asking with mild surprise.
"I haven't seen Stella either… Actually, I haven't seen her since yesterday."
Luke shook his head, then shifted several seats aside and gestured for them to sit.
"It's probably the same for Ikki and Touka-senpai."
"The four of us have been consciously avoiding meeting our opponents before the matches."
"My, how unexpectedly childish."
Arisuin handed Luke the drink 'she' was carrying, then sat down and looked at him teasingly.
"Don't tell me the loser is going to sulk after the match too?"
The image was so vivid that Luke could not help laughing.
"That does sound like something Stella might do…"
"But forget about us for a moment. What happened to the person behind you two?"
After responding to Arisuin's teasing, Luke turned his attention toward someone else.
The person following Shizuku and Arisuin looked distinctly wrong.
She seemed as though half her life had already been drained away.
"Heh… Hehehe… You brat, you've got some nerve asking me that…"
"Forget it. I don't have the energy to deal with you right now. Let me rest first."
Kurono dropped directly into the seat beside Luke.
Then she snatched the drink from his hand and drank it without the slightest hesitation.
"Uh… D-Director, you look pretty exhausted…"
Feeling the oppressive gloom radiating from Kurono, Luke gave a dry laugh and quietly shifted farther away.
Arisuin also leaned over curiously.
"We happened to run into Director Kurono on the way here. Did something happen?"
"Heh. Something happened?"
Perhaps the drink restored a little of her energy.
Or perhaps stealing Luke's drink simply improved her mood.
Either way, Kurono's complexion looked slightly better.
She glared viciously at Luke, shoved the empty bottle back into his hand, and spoke.
"It's all because this brat never considers how much work the rest of us have to do and casually demolishes the entire venue…"
"Ah… So Director Kurono is handling the repairs."
"Tch! Who told this brat to be a student at my school?! Of course the responsibility falls on me!"
As Kurono complained, Luke quietly muttered,
"Ultimately, isn't the venue just too small?"
"It's supposed to host a national-level tournament, yet the arena is ridiculously fragile."
Smack—!
Kurono irritably slapped Luke.
"What kind of venue could survive abuse from a monster like you?!"
"Do you know why Kurogane and Todo are fighting first today?"
"Do you know why both semifinal matches were scheduled in the morning?!"
"Do you know why that little 'note' was added to the announcement?!"
"Can't you restrain yourself a little?! Hold back next time!"
"Uh… I-I've actually been holding back quite a lot…"
Luke quietly slipped in that response.
Then, before Kurono's murderous gaze could fully turn toward him, he hurriedly explained.
"Nene-sensei taught me this."
"When we were still at school, her exact words were, 'Protecting the venue and spectators is our job as teachers. You're a student, so don't worry about it and go wild~'"
"And Stella trained under Nene-sensei for quite a while, right?"
"She was probably told the exact same thing."
"Instead of worrying about me, maybe you should think about how you're going to stop Stella."
"Purely in terms of destructive power, she's far beyond me now."
"And the next match is the two of us against each other…"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
Thump—!
A fist landed on Luke's head.
Kurono's face instantly darkened.
"That Nene only ever teaches you kids nonsense…"
Luke rubbed his head, though it did not actually hurt.
Perhaps Kurono was too exhausted to put strength into it.
Or perhaps she simply could not bring herself to seriously hit one of her students.
Either way, that fierce-looking punch had contained almost no force.
Laughing inwardly, Luke continued,
"Besides, I've heard that Director Kurono was far more troublesome than me back when you were a student."
"That spatial hole you blasted open during the Seven Star Sword Art Festival still hasn't closed, has it?"
"It's basically become a forbidden death zone by now."
"And apparently that wasn't even the only incident."
"Urk…!"
Luke's words pierced straight through Kurono's heart like a sword.
A direct hit.
Instant kill.
Compared with the scars Kurono and Nene had once carved into the world itself, the repairable destruction caused by Luke and Stella was almost adorable.
Kurono had no response.
"Fine… Whatever."
"There are only two matches left anyway."
"Do whatever you want…"
In the end, Kurono could only collapse pale-faced into her seat.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, she seemed to remember the strained smiles Tsukikage-sensei and Nangou Torajirou had worn when dealing with her and Nene all those years ago.
…
…
[PS: Love this fanfiction? Then, vote for more chapters. ;) If this fanfic reaches 100+ powerstones, I will increase the daily upload frequency. Also, don't forget to write a review!]
---
Read more than 40 chapters in advance:
patréon.com/Tom22
Replace "é" with "e" on your web browser.
---
For Audiobook:
youtube.com/@animefic22