Chapter 317: The Broken Sword!
Pierrot's heart skipped a beat when he saw Luke trying to ignore Ikki and draw his sword again.
He anxiously took a step forward, but immediately stopped awkwardly, as though he had suddenly remembered something.
It was no wonder he was so nervous. After all, Luke was a monster who had managed to leave wounds on Twin-Wings herself.
If they fought Luke here, the entire plan would basically collapse.
So Pierrot, who did not dare step forward, awkwardly stood in place and spoke to Luke.
"My, you must be the Falling Star Sword Emperor."
"Your opponent is not us. That great person has already prepared a battlefield in advance and is waiting for you there."
After saying that, Pierrot nervously stared at Luke.
This was what Edelweiss had told him. She said that as long as they declared she was waiting for him, Luke would stop caring about them.
Pierrot did not know why Edelweiss was so certain Luke would not attack, but seeing how confident she was, he did not dare object.
In Rebellion, strength was equal to authority. Although Edelweiss was only nominally associated with Rebellion and had never once declared that she had officially joined, her strength alone was enough.
Even if she opened her mouth and canceled this plan, Pierrot and the others would not dare have a single complaint.
This plan was important, but at most, it was a way to obtain some resources. It was not important enough to offend Twin-Wings over it.
Of course, that being said, Pierrot had still prepared a second plan.
Even if Luke attacked on the spot, he was confident the plan could continue. It was just that the process of stalling until Edelweiss came to support them would involve heavy losses.
Compared to the success of the plan, losing a few members was still acceptable. After all, he himself would not die here.
And after Luke heard Pierrot say that "someone was waiting for him," he truly sheathed the Starfall Sword under Ikki's, Stella's, and everyone else's incredulous gazes.
Luke looked at Pierrot, then closed his eyes and sensed for a moment before silently sighing.
The sword presence rising into the sky from somewhere in the distance proved that Pierrot was not lying.
This battle with Edelweiss was something Luke had been looking forward to ever since the two of them parted last time.
Facing Edelweiss, Luke had no confidence at all, so he had to make sure he was in peak condition.
The reason he had planned to fight just now was because he had noticed Edelweiss was not here…
All right, those were all excuses.
There was only one reason Luke stopped.
The moment he sensed Edelweiss, he completely lost the desire to fight anyone else.
The people in front of him could no longer interest him.
Right now, aside from rushing over to answer her challenge, he basically had no thoughts left for anything else.
"She specially prepared a battlefield, huh… Well, that makes sense."
Luke looked around at the damaged Hagun Academy and nodded, accepting Edelweiss's preparation.
Hagun Academy looked miserable right now, but as long as Kurono came back, restoring the entire school would not take too long.
But if Luke and Edelweiss fought here…
Just thinking about the battlefield in Okutama, which was still designated as a forbidden zone even now, was enough.
If the two of them truly fought inside Hagun Academy, then the school would have to move somewhere else afterward.
Besides, the moment Luke entered the school, he had already sensed that every collapsed student and teacher had been defeated by Illusionary Forms.
Not a single person was injured.
That was also something Edelweiss had promised back then.
Seeing Luke look around, Pierrot finally relaxed for real.
He stretched out his hand and pointed at a certain student lying on the ground nearby.
Then Luke felt that familiar fluctuation.
"I see… In that case, I have nothing else to say."
Luke looked at the Rule of Grace restraint Pierrot had displayed, smiled, then turned around and prepared to leave.
He sensed the surging sword presence in the distance, and his fighting spirit gradually began to boil.
An irrepressible excitement started rising from deep within his heart.
Just then, a voice stopped him.
"Wait."
The one who stepped forward was a handsome man with long black hair.
Kurogane Ouma, Ikki's and Shizuku's biological older brother, blocked Luke's path.
"I have something I want to ask you…"
"I know what you want to ask."
Luke interrupted Ouma without the slightest courtesy.
The moment he saw Ouma just now, Luke had already understood what had happened to him.
He looked Ouma up and down with some regret, then spoke in a complicated tone that was hard to describe.
"You… became afraid."
Ouma's entire body froze in place.
He stared at Luke in disbelief. Only after several seconds did he ask with difficulty,
"You fought Twin-Wings, didn't you… Facing that unclimbable cliff, were you not afraid?"
"If it were the old you, you absolutely wouldn't have asked such a stupid question."
Luke sighed.
Before this, when he learned that Kurogane Ouma was a swordsman walking the same path of "growing stronger" as himself, Luke had looked forward to meeting him.
But now that they had truly met, Luke realized reality was far from what he had imagined.
"Can you still use your sword intent now?"
Luke did not answer Ouma's question. Instead, he said something that sounded incomprehensible to everyone else.
Yet it was precisely those words that made Ouma fall completely silent.
Seeing this, Luke shook his head in disappointment.
A broken sword could not stir his interest at all.
Then, as though he had suddenly noticed something, Luke first looked at Stella, then looked back at Ouma.
After that, he spoke with sudden understanding.
"I see. Your target is Stella, isn't it?"
Seeing Ouma freeze for a moment, Luke showed a relieved smile this time.
'Not bad. He's not completely hopeless.'
Thinking that, Luke walked back to Stella's side.
To be honest, Stella had been completely lost from earlier until now.
And it was not just Stella. Ikki, Touka, and the others were all looking at Luke in confusion.
Actually, while they were on the bus earlier, Arisuin had already revealed his identity to them and explained part of what he knew.
However, he had not said too much.
One reason was that, due to "certain circumstances," Arisuin himself did not know much about the plan.
The other was that a battle was about to begin, and he did not want everyone to overthink things and become distracted during combat.
Everyone had discussed their tactics, and Luke had been there at the time.
But when it was truly time to begin carrying out the plan, Luke's actions disrupted every arrangement.
That included both Pierrot's side and Ikki's group.
After that, Luke's conversations with Pierrot and Ouma only made Stella, Ikki, and the others even more confused.
Out of trust, they did not suspect Luke of colluding with Rebellion.
But they truly could not understand the current situation.
So Stella looked at Luke as he walked over, hesitated, and opened her mouth.
Yet she had absolutely no idea what to say.
…
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