Chapter 320: It's Not Like I Put This Coat On Just to Come Out Here!
Stella might usually seem carefree, but she was a princess through and through.
For someone like her, who had received royal education since childhood, things like the world order and the complicated relationship between the League and its subordinate nations were topics she had grown up hearing like bedtime stories.
Almost the moment Pierrot finished speaking, Stella had already sorted out all the relationships behind it.
She had even faintly sensed the parts Pierrot had not said aloud.
Because of that, without being shaken by his words, she immediately noticed the flaw in his speech.
"What you want is for the students of Akatsuki Academy to defeat Hagun Academy's representatives, but none of you dare to fight Luke."
"…I see. So that's one of your goals too, isn't it?"
As Stella spoke, she seemed to understand something, and the mockery on her face grew even stronger.
"Besides entering the Seven Star Sword Art Festival, your goal should also be winning the championship."
"But Luke's existence makes it impossible for you to see any hope of winning, so you arranged another powerhouse to specifically deal with him, right?"
"You want him heavily injured, or maybe even dead… no, considering the country behind him, you probably don't have the courage to truly kill him."
"Because you can't defeat your opponent, you want to remove him from the competition instead. Heh. After all that talk, you're nothing more than a bunch of weaklings."
Stella's condescending attitude shocked everyone.
Even Ikki and Shizuku, who knew her well, could not help showing surprise.
As a princess, Stella's personality was unbelievably good.
Even as an A-rank knight, she had never looked down on others, let alone shown this kind of contempt toward powerful enemies.
This was definitely not an attitude the usual Stella would show.
Faintly, Ikki and the others seemed to see a bit of Luke's shadow in Stella.
Similar, yet different.
Luke's attitude belonged to a true powerhouse, while the Stella standing before them now felt like some existence that was naturally above all things and looked down on the world from birth.
The change was not obvious, but it was steadily rising. Stella's transformation made Shizuku, Touka, and the others beside her feel somewhat unsettled.
Only Ikki understood something, because he had once witnessed a certain state of Stella's together with Luke.
He knew Stella was sending him a signal.
Ikki did not hesitate. He immediately suppressed his surprise and continued his observation.
That was right. There was a reason Ikki and Stella were standing here listening to their opponent ramble.
On one hand, they naturally wanted to know why they had been attacked. On the other hand, there was the look Luke had given Ikki before leaving.
After that, Ikki had quietly signaled Stella, Touka, and the others not to act rashly, then calmed himself and began observing their surroundings.
Stella's contempt made Pierrot's mood visibly sink.
Even through the mask, everyone could sense the displeasure in his heart.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. As expected of the princess of Vermillion Kingdom, your words are truly sharp."
"Those of you who have never truly witnessed that realm will never understand what it means to injure that person… Forget it."
"You wouldn't understand anyway. The result is already decided."
"You will become our stepping stones!"
The moment Pierrot finished speaking, intense killing intent rose from every member of Akatsuki Academy.
Facing the enemy's battle stance, Hagun Academy's group also raised their Devices.
And just as the battle was about to erupt—
"Stella! Ten o'clock to your left!"
Ikki's loud shout suddenly rang out.
Stella, who had already been prepared, swung Laevateinn without the slightest hesitation.
"Katharterio Salamandra!"
Along with Stella's roar, a massive blade of light instantly formed and slashed toward the direction Ikki indicated.
Boom—!
The blade, composed of an enormous amount of light and heat, was driven forward by Stella's vast mana and slammed into the empty ground nearby with terrifying speed and power.
At first glance, Ikki and Stella looked as though they had lost their minds.
Instead of using such a powerful Noble Art to attack the enemy, they had fired it into an empty space. It looked like nothing more than a waste of strength.
However, that was not the case.
Bang—!
A sudden storm rose and blocked Stella's terrifying strike.
"What is that?!"
Touka and the others could not help crying out when they saw the scene before them.
After the raging wind easily blocked Stella's Noble Art, the empty ground that should have held no one began to distort slightly.
It looked exactly as though someone invisible had been hiding there.
And that was precisely the truth.
Along with a strange fluctuation, the members of Akatsuki Academy walked out as though passing through transparent mist.
Clap, clap, clap—!
At the same time, Pierrot began clapping in surprise.
"Amazing! Truly amazing!"
"Ouma, this little brother of yours isn't nearly as useless as you claimed."
The voice did not come from one Pierrot.
Instead, two Pierrots were clapping and speaking at the same time.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Luke looked at the pure-white figure in the distance and walked toward her with a smile.
Edelweiss's outfit was not much different from when they had first met. She still wore that thin, almost provocative light armor.
The two platinum longswords, Testament, shaped like wings, were held in her left and right hands.
If there was any difference, it was that Edelweiss, who had previously worn only light armor, now had a pure-white coat over her body.
It was the same pure white, and draped over her, it did not feel out of place at all. Instead, it made that sacred feeling around her even stronger.
Under the coat's cover, the beautiful curves that had once been almost completely exposed to the air were now mostly hidden.
Her arms were difficult to see because of it, but Luke could still see Edelweiss's abdomen.
The wound left on her abdomen during their last battle had already healed, leaving not even the slightest scar behind.
Luke stared at her smooth-white stomach for a while, unable to find even the smallest trace of that huge, vicious wound he had seen back then.
Knowing that Edelweiss had also recovered to her peak condition, Luke nodded in satisfaction.
However, in Edelweiss's eyes, his actions looked a little different.
The moment they met, Luke stared fixedly at her abdomen, and after looking for a while, he even nodded with a satisfied expression.
Even Edelweiss could not help feeling embarrassed.
She subconsciously released the platinum swords, her pretty face turning slightly red as she silently pulled her coat closed and quickly buttoned it.
Then, after turning her body slightly in embarrassment, she picked up the platinum swords again.
What she did not notice was that the anger filling her heart because Luke kept randomly "buzzing" her had quietly dispersed without her realizing it after this interruption.
Her intention to properly teach Luke a lesson and make him suffer was also thrown to the back of her mind.
…
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