Chapter 331: Sword Domain!
Seeing Edelweiss show no reaction to the "rain," the thought "as expected" flashed through Luke's mind.
Back when he had once done something rather excessive to Nene, Luke had noticed this situation.
Now, after testing Edelweiss, her reaction almost confirmed Luke's guess.
The Blazers of this world were not very sensitive to powers other than mana.
Of course, this did not rule out the existence of sensitive individuals.
Luke was well aware that every world had special talents.
Right now, Edelweiss had suppressed her terrifying Desperado realm because she wanted to win back a victory from Luke.
Otherwise, even the slightest change would not escape her notice.
However, "if" was still only "if."
The Edelweiss Luke was facing now was not the Desperado Edelweiss standing at the peak of this world.
She was Twin-Wings Edelweiss, the world's strongest swordsman.
The difference between those two decided whether Luke's tactic would succeed.
Clang—!
The platinum sword was blocked by Luke once again, and Edelweiss also noticed it at that moment.
'He stopped using that Noble Art capable of cutting apart my Device.'
Edelweiss furrowed her brow almost imperceptibly.
Although it looked like she had sealed Luke's "cutting" ability and held the advantage in their clash of abilities, that was not actually the case.
In the clash of swordsmanship, Edelweiss held overwhelming superiority.
But in the clash of abilities, Luke had the advantage.
Seeing that his ability was not working, Luke could freely cancel its activation and conserve mana.
But Edelweiss did not dare do that.
She absolutely could not remove the contract power from her Device, Testament.
After all, Edelweiss could not predict whether Luke would suddenly use that Noble Art again.
If she was careless and gave him an opportunity, the embarrassment would be far too great.
However, continuously maintaining the release of a causality-type ability was not a small consumption.
By contrast, Luke's consumption had decreased by a great deal because he stopped using his ability.
As one side rose and the other fell, although it was not enough to decide the battle, it invisibly increased Luke's chance of victory.
According to his records, Luke's mana amount was not high.
With only C-rank mana, logically speaking, it should not be worth Edelweiss's caution.
However, she had already discovered it during their last battle.
Luke's records were fake!
That beautiful light sword with black flames was not listed!
That inexplicable ability to cut apart other people's abilities was not listed either!
And most outrageous of all was his mana amount.
Who was he trying to fool with C-rank?!
Could C-rank mana let him fight a Desperado like her for this long?!
Were C-ranks this terrifying nowadays?!
Had she gotten weaker, or had the era changed?
Even weaker A-rank mana reserves were not as lasting as his, all right?
Liar!
He altered his records!
Shameless jerk!
Hmph, men!
Not knowing about the existence of the Sword Sheath of Tranquility, Edelweiss completely treated Luke's mana amount as A-rank.
In fact, because Prana also existed, Luke, who alternated between two kinds of power, felt to her like he had even more reserves than an ordinary A-rank.
One had to know that although Blazers who stepped into the Desperado realm would have their mana naturally increase after breaking the shackles of their own fate, the degree of increase varied from person to person.
It was not as though one's mana amount would explosively grow the instant one entered the Desperado realm.
People like that did exist, but before becoming Desperados, such people usually did not have low mana amounts to begin with.
In simple terms, becoming a Desperado only helped mana by breaking its upper limit.
As for growth speed, in the end, it still depended on talent.
That was also why, even though more than one Desperado was registered in the League, Stella could still be praised as the person with the greatest amount of mana in the world.
Even if others became Desperados, even if they entered that realm for several years or even more than a decade, they still could not compare to the girl beloved by the world when it came to mana.
Mana could no longer be viewed as an advantage.
Although Edelweiss's mana amount was still absurdly greater than Luke's, the uneven consumption made her unsure whether she could completely defeat him in that aspect.
A prolonged battle was clearly not wise.
However, in the next moment, the change in Luke's offense shocked Edelweiss.
That was right.
Whether judged by mana consumption or by the foreshadowing he had temporarily planted, dragging out the battle was currently Luke's best choice.
But do not forget this.
The reason Luke wanted to fight Edelweiss had never been victory.
That kind of thing was completely unimportant!
A black and white light suddenly appeared.
The Starfall Sword and Ser-Veresta transformed into flashing streaks.
Luke's sword speed rose by an entire level in an instant.
That was the Twin-Wings sword Edelweiss had upgraded during this period!
Boom—!
An explosive sound rang out.
All this time, whenever Luke and Edelweiss crossed swords, they usually did not produce such huge sounds.
But that did not mean their sword strikes lacked power.
The reason there was no noise was because the force had been perfectly neutralized.
Only when it was not neutralized—in other words, when it exceeded one side's expectations—would a thunderous roar that shook heaven and earth appear.
Luke's sword force grew increasingly violent.
Finally, at a certain moment—
Bang—!
Feeling the violent force strike heavily against her sword, Edelweiss looked at the boy before her in shock.
She, the world's strongest swordsman, had actually been forced back in a swordsmanship clash?!
Luke smiled.
He laughed freely and joyfully.
He pointed the sword in his hand at Edelweiss and looked at the woman who had only taken half a step back and was still completely unharmed.
"Your sword has slowed!"
Luke's words were like a heavy hammer crashing into Edelweiss's heart.
A prolonged battle?
Luke had never thought in that direction at all.
What should he do with the mana he saved?
Did that even need to be asked?
Squeeze it out and forcibly raise his physical enhancement!
Faster!
Stronger!
Crush this peerless swordsman in front of him from the front!
Any method of victory besides that had never once entered Luke's eyes.
Luke had never cared about the victory from last time.
He had never believed he had truly defeated the pure-white swordsman before him.
But Edelweiss believed she had lost.
In the first defeat of her life, she had thought about many things.
During this battle, she had likewise thought about many things.
At the very beginning of this fight, Edelweiss had hidden her use of contract power and first chosen to avoid Luke's sword strikes.
That was the first time in her life she had used tactics in a swordsmanship duel.
The effect had been very clear.
During several clashes, Luke had more than once cut apart the contract power on Edelweiss's swords, consuming a considerable amount of mana.
After that, she had kept thinking about what Luke would do.
She had thought about how Luke could gain more chances of victory and prepared countermeasures based on that.
Victory, defeat, victory, defeat, victory, defeat.
Those words had always occupied Edelweiss's heart.
Until Luke's words shattered them.
"…I was actually influenced this deeply without realizing it."
Edelweiss stood in place and looked at the boy before her.
No, she looked at the great swordsman before her.
Remembering how she had still been immersed in "defeat" just a second ago, Edelweiss took a deep breath.
Then…
Boom—!
Sword energy that seemed to pierce heaven and earth rose violently.
A sharp yet clear sword intent appeared before Luke once again.
Feeling the familiar pressure from his surroundings, that Sword Domain capable of bringing a person close to death through aura alone, Luke smiled in satisfaction.
This was what he wanted.
This was what he had hoped for!
This was worth showing her the next surprise he had prepared!
…
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