Chapter 349: Luke Sets Off on a Trip!
"If you're willing to accept, I can make the adjustment on my end. What do you think?"
Kurono looked at Shizuku and quietly waited for the girl's answer.
A trace of surprise flashed across Shizuku's face, but it soon vanished.
Arisuin withdrawing from the competition could be considered within expectations.
Shizuku also truly possessed enough strength to participate.
Considering the relationship between the two of them, it was not difficult to understand why Arisuin would make this decision.
Without thinking too much, Shizuku nodded and said,
"I would be happy to participate."
Naturally, Shizuku would not give up such an opportunity.
Being able to participate in the Seven Star Sword Art Festival together with Ikki was something she could not ask for enough.
Back when she was eliminated by Touka during the representative selection battle, she had been unable to hold back and cried bitterly.
Kurono seemed to have already expected her decision.
She picked up the documents she had prepared in advance, wrote a few words on them, stamped them, then handed them to Shizuku.
"Then it's settled. Sign the document, and from now on, you'll be one of Hagun's representatives."
After handling Shizuku's matter, Kurono once again shifted her gaze to Luke and Ikki.
"What about you two?"
"This was an emergency. If you decide to withdraw… Fine, pretend I didn't say anything."
Seeing that neither of them wavered at all, Kurono also knew she had done something unnecessary.
However, as part of her duties, she still needed to go through the formalities.
Regarding this, Luke smiled and said,
"Actually, for Ikki and me, this year's Seven Star Sword Art Festival is no different from usual."
"It's just that some so-called people from the underworld have been added. Originally, they were already representative competitors from various schools, so they were our opponents from the very beginning."
"Now they've only changed the name of their school. There's no need to think too much. We just have to crush them."
Hearing Luke say this, Kurono looked deeply at him.
Having personally seen Edelweiss's injury, she was probably the only person in this world besides Luke himself and Edelweiss who clearly understood Luke's true strength.
In her heart, she silently mourned for the competitors participating in this Seven Star Sword Art Festival.
Having such a little monster present was truly the misfortune of everyone else.
Every era was like this.
There would always be one or two people whose light would cover all other geniuses.
Just like the former World Clock and Yaksha Princess, it was now the turn of the Falling Star Sword Emperor.
Of course, perhaps another person should be added as well.
"Director, how is Stella?"
Ikki looked at Kurono in confusion.
Since this was about confirming the representatives' intentions, there was no reason not to call Stella as well.
Because they had stopped her in time, Stella had not suffered any injuries.
She had only been seriously exhausted.
After waking up, she had eaten a huge meal and had basically recovered.
After this deep Dragonification, the girl's body seemed to have undergone some slight changes.
The most obvious one was her sudden increase in appetite, which was now almost the same as Luke's.
Naturally, Stella, who was in good condition, would participate in the Seven Star Sword Art Festival.
Whether it was Luke or Ikki, neither of them thought that competitive girl would choose to give up.
And Kurono's next answer also proved their judgment.
"As for Vermillion, I asked her separately this morning. Without a doubt, she also has no intention of withdrawing."
"As for why she isn't here…"
Kurono suddenly paused at this point.
As though somewhat troubled over how to describe it, she spent several seconds organizing her words before speaking to Luke again.
"She was taken away by Nene… To be precise, she accepted Nene's invitation and left with her."
"I'm not too clear on where they went specifically, but the purpose is probably 'special training.'"
"Oh, right… Luke, before Nene left, she told me to pass this message to you: 'Just you wait. I'll definitely train an even stronger monster than you. At the Seven Star Sword Art Festival, I'll have Stella give you a surprise.'"
"Mm… That was roughly it."
"In short, during the time before the Seven Star Sword Art Festival begins, you probably won't see Nene or Vermillion."
…
As the Seven Star Sword Art Festival approached, everyone chose to spend this period in their own way.
Stella followed Nene for special training, while Ikki was perfecting his own secret technique.
It could almost be said that every participant in the Seven Star Sword Art Festival was seizing the time to improve themselves.
However, Luke did not train.
Compared to the other competitors, Luke's choice could be called extremely lazy.
Because…
He went traveling!
Northern Europe, Estonia, one of the three Baltic states, was Luke's destination for this trip.
Of course, he was not really going there to play.
Although his destination was "Estonia," to be more precise, Luke's true target was a certain special location within Estonia.
Sword Peak Edelberg.
This nearly ten-thousand-meter-tall highest peak in the world was Luke's real destination.
Around fifteen years ago, a major incident named the "Baltic Crisis" occurred.
At that time, the Russian Empire, one of the core nations of the Union, sent troops to invade Estonia, which had not yet joined the League.
Meanwhile, out of hostility toward the Union, the League sent troops without Estonia's permission.
Caught between the world's two great powers, Estonia could be said to have already been on the verge of destruction.
This incident shook the entire world.
The direct confrontation between the Union and the League even nearly triggered World War III.
However, such a major incident ultimately ended as an "attempt."
At the time, Edelweiss, who was still a young girl, sought to save her homeland.
Alone with two swords, she defeated the two major powers' combined army of over three hundred thousand soldiers.
A single girl.
Two longswords.
That pure-white figure ravaged the entire battlefield like a Valkyrie.
Completely unharmed.
The legend of Twin-Wings Edelweiss began from that moment.
This incident struck the faces of the world's two great powers fiercely.
The first and only time the Union and the League cooperated was to issue an international arrest warrant for Edelweiss.
The whole world mobilized.
Under the temptation of an enormous bounty and nearly limitless authority, the entire world went mad.
Everyone rushed to try to arrest Twin-Wings.
For a full ten years.
Edelweiss fought against the entire world alone for ten full years.
No one succeeded.
They could not even injure her.
Even when the strongest people of the Union and the League, Superman and Whitebeard Duke, two of the three great Desperados in the world, made their moves, it still did not work.
After that, the name "the Peak of This World" resounded across the globe.
The end of the incident happened because of a certain change ten years later.
Estonia, which announced that it would join the League, made a public declaration under the eyes of the world.
It would give up ownership of the land around Edelberg, where Twin-Wings lived.
Faced with this act of a nation fleeing from a single human being, along with the silent attitude of the Union and the League, the matter finally came to an end under the shock of the entire world.
…
Early in the morning, the plane Luke was riding landed at an airport in Estonia.
With a powerful country's backing, he did not need to worry about the various procedures for going abroad at all.
After completing entry procedures very smoothly, Luke had no intention of stopping anywhere and directly hailed a taxi to head toward Edelberg.
The country of Estonia was not very large.
Although it had given up the land around Sword Peak, the place was ultimately still located within the country's borders.
In terms of distance, it was not very far.
In only three hours, Luke arrived at a checkpoint.
The checkpoint blocked by iron railings and barbed wire gave off an extremely dangerous feeling.
The taxi stopped in front of the checkpoint because, in principle, the area ahead no longer belonged to Estonia.
After paying and getting out, then completing entry and exit procedures once more, Luke stepped into Edelweiss's realm.
Sword Peak Edelberg was right before his eyes.
…
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