Chapter 382: The Gap in Swordsmanship!
Looking at Ouma charging over once again, Luke received his sword strike head-on just like before.
Boom—!
A heaven-shaking roar rang out once again!
However, this time, Ouma had no intention of repeating his earlier mistake.
This time, he changed from his previous two-handed grip and crossed swords with Luke using only his right hand, freeing his left hand.
Ouma's change also made Luke slightly surprised, but losing the strength of one hand also meant Ouma could no longer hold out against him for four whole strikes like before.
Two strikes, or perhaps even just one, would be enough for Luke to send him flying again.
Ouma was naturally not stupid.
Of course, he knew what using one hand meant.
So he did not hesitate in the slightest.
At the same moment Luke exerted strength to blow him away, Ouma clenched his left hand and slammed his fist heavily into the back of his Device, Ryuuzume!
Boom—!
A tremendous roar rang out like exploding thunder.
And this time, the one who retreated was finally Luke!
The secret art of the prestigious Kurogane Family, a national-protecting sword style passed down through generations.
Kyokujitsu Isshin-Ryuu: Extreme of Hardness: Honoikazuchi!
Feeling the tremendous force transmitted into his hand, even Luke felt no small amount of shock at this moment.
That was not pure brute force.
It was a unique method of exerting power that Luke had never seen before.
His right foot suddenly stomped backward with force.
At the same time he retreated one step, Luke guided the power Ouma had applied into the ground through transmission.
This secret-technique-level sword skill was easily neutralized by Luke at the cost of taking one step back.
However, Ouma's attack had not ended!
He seized the opportunity created by Luke's retreat.
While Luke's stance was slightly unstable because the ground had shattered beneath him, the Device in Ouma's hand turned into streaks of blade light that slashed at him continuously.
As though refusing to give Luke any chance to adjust his posture again, Ouma's offensive showed no sign of stopping.
One, five, fifteen, twenty.
Rapid and continuous, without breath, without pause, without end.
Kyokujitsu Isshin-Ryuu: Extreme of Ferocity: Amatsukaze!
A continuous attack formed by a cycle of one hundred and eight sword strikes.
By repeating this process countless times until it was carved into instinct, one could reach the highest speed.
It was a secret technique that suppressed the opponent through overwhelming attack density.
Clang—!
Clang, clang, clang, clang—!
A series of crisp sounds echoed continuously across the arena.
At a glance, it seemed as though Ouma held the advantage.
However, as the number of blade clashes increased, Ouma gradually began to feel pressure.
Luke's posture was wrong, his force was not flowing smoothly, and because of Ouma's chain attacks, he had even lost the initiative.
No matter how one looked at it, Luke should have been at a disadvantage.
But…
Not a single strike succeeded!
That was right.
Even with such a massive advantage, not a single one of Ouma's sword strikes successfully landed on Luke.
Starfall Sword was like a satellite orbiting around Luke, intercepting every single incoming blade without missing even one.
From left hand to right hand, then from right hand back to left hand.
Ouma stared at Luke's movement, and cold sweat could not help flowing down.
There was clearly only one sword.
But in Ouma's senses, Luke seemed as though he held a Starfall Sword in both his left and right hands.
One-handed dual wielding!
The trajectories of Luke's sword swings all followed specific routes, leaving not the slightest gap as Starfall Sword alternated between his two hands.
His movements were as beautiful as a sword dance.
The flowing sword light was like real stars orbiting around him.
Of course, Luke was not merely defending passively.
The sword technique Ouma used, Amatsukaze, was indeed extremely excellent.
But no matter what kind of sword technique it was, no matter how many years it had accumulated over, in the end, it was still a move woven by humans.
Within it, perfection did not exist!
Whoosh—!
As a flash of sword light passed, the situation suddenly changed under Luke's abruptly shifting sword momentum.
The instant Ouma's thirty-first Amatsukaze strike ended, Starfall Sword in Luke's right hand suddenly tapped Ryuuzume's blade from a strange angle.
Ding—!
This strike instantly destroyed the connection between Ouma's sword moves!
Immediately afterward, Luke did not hesitate in the slightest.
Under Ouma's shocked gaze, he directly slammed Starfall Sword into the Tenryuu Armor on Ouma's abdomen!
Boom—!
Because the strike landed directly on his body, without the obstruction of weapon force to block it, Ouma's entire body flew out like a cannonball!
Just like before, the flying Ouma slammed into the protective wall in front of the audience stands.
But unlike before, this time, the wall did not stop him.
Rumble—!
Accompanied by a series of thunderous crashes, Ouma directly smashed through the wall.
Then, without the slightest sign of stopping, he destroyed reinforced concrete and steel structures all the way through, ultimately flying out of the venue!
This time, it was not a victory of strength.
It was crushing domination through swordsmanship.
And this astonishing scene completely made the audience boil over.
"Wh-What just happened?!"
"You've got to be kidding! His whole body flew out?!"
It was not only the spectators inside the dome who were shocked.
The same was true outside the dome.
Because this Sword Emperor duel was simply too explosive, many spectators had failed to buy tickets.
These spectators could only watch the large screen outside the dome and listen to the live broadcast.
And then…
They personally saw the scene of Ouma smashing through the wall and flying out.
"H-Holy crap!!!"
"Th-This is way too exaggerated! Is he still alive after that?!"
Feeling the intense emotions inside and outside the venue, the commentator finally recovered from that shocking scene.
No longer suppressing his excitement, he shouted loudly through the broadcast.
"Too shocking!!!"
"Competitor Ouma didn't just fly out of the stage. He flew straight out of the dome!"
"Ah… oh, pardon me. The stage disappeared a long time ago."
"I have worked as a commentator for A-rank League events for over ten years, but even I have only seen such a spectacular scene once before!"
"I never imagined that I would see it for a second time in a student competition!"
"This is a battle between Sword Emperors! This is a battle between A-ranks! I can no longer find the perfect words to describe the current situation!"
"However, judging from the distance he flew, can competitor Ouma return to the battle zone within the countdown?!"
The victory conditions of the Seven Star Sword Art Festival were not limited to defeating one's opponent.
If an opponent was knocked out of the battle zone and failed to return within ten seconds, that would also count as victory.
The commentator's emotions were excited, and the audience's shouts were extremely heated.
But at this moment, Ouma, who was lying outside, had no mind to care about those things.
He merely gazed silently up at the sky, quietly listening to the surrounding noise.
'This really is… completely impossible to win.'
Ouma recalled his current state.
This seemed to be the third time.
The first time was when he faced Tyrant.
That defeat carved the mark known as fear into him.
The second time was when he faced Dragonified Stella.
That time allowed him to successfully overcome his fear.
And the third time… was now.
Thinking of this, Ouma smiled.
Listening to the faint countdown coming from the distant venue, a storm began to coil around him once again.
…
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