Chapter 385: I Object!!
Facing Stella's greeting, Luke did not respond immediately.
Instead, he narrowed his eyes and carefully looked the girl up and down.
Mm… this was not Luke admiring Stella's wonderful body.
Rather, it was because he felt pressure from Stella.
That was right.
Luke, who had just crushed Ouma without taking any damage, actually felt pressure from Stella!
Although it was only a faint trace, barely there, it was still quite shocking.
A simple comparison made it clear.
All this time, who were the people capable of bringing Luke pressure?
Former League world rank three, Director Kurono, World Clock, counted as one.
Current League world rank three, Nene, Yaksha Princess, counted as one.
Aside from them, only God of War Nangou and Twin-Wings Edelweiss remained.
These four were all world-renowned powerhouses.
And after not seeing her for only a short time, Stella had already climbed to this level?
More importantly, there was the girl's high-spirited appearance.
That was the expression of someone extremely confident in her own strength.
To be honest, at first glance, Luke almost thought this was someone else disguised as her.
"You've completely mastered Dragonification?"
"Hmph, hmph. It's not called that anymore, and I didn't merely 'master' it either."
Hearing Luke's question, Stella immediately raised her head proudly.
But immediately afterward, as though she had thought of something, she shook her head hard and said,
"I can't tell you the details now. When we fight, you'll naturally know."
"In Nene-sensei's words, 'I'll definitely shock you!'"
"Oh? Then I'll look forward to it."
Luke raised an eyebrow.
He did not doubt Stella's words.
After all, that faint pressure coming from her was the best proof.
"However, we still don't know how the semifinals will be grouped. When the time comes, don't fail to get past Ikki first."
The Seven Star Sword Art Festival's semifinals would be regrouped.
The winners of the four blocks would be randomly paired together.
Of course, how much water there was in that "randomness" was another matter entirely.
Luke believed Ikki and Stella would definitely enter the semifinals, and he also believed he would definitely enter the finals.
But who his opponent in the finals would be was hard to say.
A-rank versus A-rank, or A-rank versus F-rank.
A battle between exchange students, or an exchange between domestic and foreign competitors.
Which one the operating committee would choose, Luke could not say for certain.
After all, both could be used as promotional gimmicks.
There were too many factors involved, and Luke was too lazy to think too much about it.
However, if Ikki and Stella truly met, it was hard to say who would win.
One had to know that Ikki possessed extraordinary observation ability and an understanding of swordsmanship.
After watching Luke and Ouma's match, even Luke could not accurately predict how much growth Ikki had gained.
It had to be said that the strength growth of the male and female protagonists of the Chivalry of a Failed Knight world really did not make sense.
Stella's growth came in exaggerated step-like leaps.
Ikki's strength, on the other hand, increased inexplicably.
Both of them were like this.
Clearly, there had not been any huge change, yet their strength increased sharply.
Luke's own growth in strength was already extremely fast.
But at the start of school, he had been able to steadily suppress both of them, and now Stella was faintly catching up to him.
Looking at it this way, Ikki's next burst of strength was probably not far off either.
'This is really… amazing!'
The corners of Luke's lips rose into an uncontrollable smile.
To him, the more opponents there were, the better.
The stronger they were, the better.
Because only this could push him to grow even stronger.
And he also had confidence that he could once again firmly press down the two who had caught up.
In this tense chase, all three of them would obtain exaggerated progress.
…
Because of Luke's shocking performance in the match just now, even after leaving the battle zone, he was still the focus of attention.
As for Stella, there was even less need to mention her.
The late competitor caused great attention the moment she appeared at the venue.
So when the two met and chatted, the surrounding area was also filled with other people's discussions.
"Isn't that Falling Star Sword Emperor? He came out."
"That match just now was too exaggerated. That was actually Twin-Wings's swordsmanship. Just how strong is he?"
"And he really is completely unharmed… he's way too cool!"
"Eh? Look! Isn't that Crimson Princess?"
"Wow! A living princess herself!"
"Her hair is so beautiful. Natural bright crimson… I heard that even dyeing can't create that kind of glossy red."
"Yeah… she really is beautiful. And her figure is amazing too. Her legs are so long, and that part is huge."
The audience's discussions quickly attracted the operating committee's attention.
After a brief discussion, the entire venue's large screens switched to a unified image.
After a cough, everyone's attention was drawn over.
It was a bald old man.
"Look, it's Thunder of Judgement, Kaieda Yuzo!"
Any spectator over the age of forty became extremely excited when they saw the bald old man.
Because in that era, during this old man's prime, he had been the hero of Japan.
He had once won the KOK League A-rank tournament under the title Thunder of Judgement.
This old man had been ranked first in the entire League at the time.
And now, after retiring, he was the chairman of the Seven Star Sword Art Festival operating committee.
He would represent the committee and announce the result of their consultation.
"The handling of competitor Stella Vermillion's lateness has already been discussed. Please allow me to announce the result now."
"Considering that the previous match caused… extremely serious damage to the stage, the following matches will be slightly postponed and will resume after the stage is repaired."
"The already postponed fourth match of Block B will be held immediately after the stage repairs are complete."
"Competitor Stella Vermillion, do you have any objections?"
This decision was practically the same as not punishing Stella at all.
The only slight influence might be that she would have to participate in the match right after arriving at the venue, with a little stamina loss.
However, to Stella, that degree could not be considered a punishment at all.
So she answered without hesitation.
"No objections."
The match had been delayed because she was late in the first place.
Stella had long since mentally prepared herself to accept any punishment.
However, just as this topic was about to end, another voice sounded nearby.
"She has no objections, but I have plenty."
The voice, cold as ice, sounded especially clear under the effect of magic power.
At the same time, the dissatisfaction in the owner's words was expressed very clearly.
Walking over along with the voice was a woman with ash-blond hair.
She was Stella's opponent, Kyomon Academy's Icy Laughter, Tsuruya Mikoto.
"Chairman, I'm quite troubled here. Why did you decide directly while leaving me out?"
"No, no. Of course, I intended to confirm with you as well."
Although Kaieda's figure appeared on the large screen, he could still hear Stella and Tsuruya Mikoto's voices.
"This matter itself was not your fault, so the committee is naturally willing to flexibly listen to your requests."
"If you are unwilling to compete immediately, then arranging this match as the final match today is also possible."
However, facing Kaieda's question, Tsuruya silently shook her head.
He did not understand at all.
From beginning to end, the committee had not understood what Tsuruya meant.
As one of last year's top eight competitors, Tsuruya had undergone a qualitative leap this year.
Even facing powerhouses like Touka and Moroboshi, she was confident she could win.
But precisely because she was outstanding, she could sense Stella's strength.
Do not forget what Tsuruya's title was.
From the title Icy Laughter, one could tell what ability she was good at.
During the joint training, Tsuruya had personally witnessed Stella's exaggerated amount of mana.
Ice against fire.
And the opponent was a monster like Stella, who could turn the entire stage into a sea of flames while chatting and laughing.
Was this a joke?
Making her fight Stella fairly like this—what was the difference from seeking death?
Bullying people should have limits!
…
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