Chapter 421: The Return of Amakakeru-Ryū-no-Hirameki!
"W-What an intense exchange!"
"The match has only just begun, yet in a single instant, both competitors have already displayed an incredible series of attacks and defenses!"
The commentator's excited cry echoed throughout the venue.
At the same time, Stella turned toward Arisuin beside her.
"Alice."
"I haven't watched many of the other matches. What exactly is the ability of that Rebellion member named Sara?"
Hearing Stella's question, Arisuin thought for a moment before explaining.
"According to her records from Rokuzon Academy and what she showed in her first two matches, she's officially a C-rank Blazer."
"But judging by how effortlessly she fought, she's probably been hiding her true strength."
"As for her ability, from what I know, she can manipulate concepts related to color."
"Water blue mixed with pale green represents water, allowing her to create lakes, while blazing red represents fire and produces extreme heat."
"In theory, however many colors she can mix, that's how many different abilities she can use."
"When Sara first attended Rokuzon Academy, she was even known by the nickname Kaleidoscope."
"It suits her identity as a painter perfectly."
"As for whether her ability has developed any further… no one has ever seen her use anything beyond that, so there's no way to know."
...
'As expected, it won't be that easy.'
Sara continued moving through the water while occasionally scattering red paint.
Unfortunately, regardless of the angle or direction she attacked from, Luke accurately intercepted every strike.
'Still, if I can keep dragging this out, that works in my favor… What?!'
Just as Sara planned to stall for a little longer, Luke suddenly charged toward her as though he had pinpointed her exact location!
Startled, Sara immediately swung her brush.
Her body followed the movement of the water and sped toward the opposite side of the arena.
However…
"Got you!"
As though he had predicted her response from the beginning, Luke abruptly changed direction midway through his charge.
Moving even faster, he intercepted Sara directly along her path!
Starfall Sword came down without mercy!
"Tch."
Sara frowned.
She knew it was already too late to evade.
With a flick of her brush, she drew a white line before herself.
"Color Magic: Guiding Pure White!"
This technique was never intended for defense.
Guiding Pure White was a spell used to guide movement. Once someone stepped onto the white road, they could only travel along its designated path and could not dodge elsewhere.
At the same time, people and objects outside the white road were prevented from entering it, making the technique useful for breaking through encirclements.
Now, Sara created the white road horizontally between herself and Luke, hoping its boundary would stop his attack.
Bang—!
Starfall Sword struck something resembling an invisible transparent wall, producing a deafening impact!
It stopped him!
Sara had only just felt a hint of relief when another sound made her expression change dramatically.
Crack—!
The Pure White road endured Starfall Sword for only an instant.
Then, under Sara's disbelieving gaze, it shattered!
And immediately afterward—
Boom—!
Luke mercilessly blasted Sara away!
A direct hit!
Yet Luke showed no satisfaction.
Instead, his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Something had felt wrong.
Luke had activated his severing ability and destroyed both the Pure White road and Sara's mana armor in one strike, only canceling the ability at the instant his sword reached her body.
After all, he had no intention of killing her.
If his severing ability struck Sara directly, even with Starfall Sword in illusion form, its effect would instantly cut her in two.
That was why Luke canceled the ability at the final moment.
He did the same against everyone else.
Unless it was a genuine fight to the death, Luke always restrained the severing effect before his blade struck flesh.
Besides, once Sara's mana defense had already been broken, her physical body could never withstand Starfall Sword's sharpness anyway.
There was no reason to waste mana maintaining the severing ability.
Keeping such a powerful effect active consumed a considerable amount of mana.
However, Luke raised an eyebrow when Sara casually stood back up in the distance.
Color Magic: Steel Bronze!
Sara had applied this defensive spell to herself at the very last instant.
The brief moment when Guiding Pure White stopped Luke had existed solely to give her enough time to activate it.
That was the strange resistance Luke had felt.
"Interesting."
Both the strength and versatility of Sara's ability exceeded Luke's expectations.
Hiding within water interfered with his perception, while traveling through it allowed her to move almost as fast as his normal maximum speed.
The white road could even halt Severing for an instant.
Meanwhile, Steel Bronze allowed her to withstand Starfall Sword's edge and Luke's monstrous strength without injury.
And on top of that, she possessed wide-ranging flame attacks with considerable destructive power.
Sara's endless variety of techniques gave her an answer to practically any situation, and every individual ability possessed astonishing strength.
Any one of the Color Magic techniques she had just demonstrated could surpass the abilities of an ordinary Blazer.
As expected of Akatsuki Academy's trump card.
However—
This was as far as she went!
The strength Sara had displayed was unquestionably impressive.
Even Luke could not defeat her easily. On that point alone, her performance had already surpassed Ouma's.
But that was under one condition.
Luke had not used swordsmanship yet!
Starfall Sword slid back into its sheath.
Luke assumed a stance, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Sara keeping pace with him had genuinely exceeded his expectations.
Her rich combat experience had been an even more pleasant surprise.
Yet this still was not enough to deserve Edelweiss's praise.
'Show me what else you're hiding.'
'Whatever you do… don't disappoint me!'
Sara had only just regained her stance and appeared ready to make her next move when Luke vanished!
It was as though he had crossed space and time itself.
Without a sound, Luke appeared beside Sara.
A streak of sword light resembling a meteor tearing across the heavens flashed directly through her!
Hiten-Mitsurugi-Ryu·Amakakeru-Ryu-no-Hirameki!
Slash—!
The godspeed battoujutsu rose to yet another level under the enhancement of Twin-Wings Sword Style.
No one could perceive the path of the strike.
By the time the audience reacted, all they could see was blood scattering through the air and Sara collapsed upon the ground.
Luke had not held back in the slightest.
To ensure she could not block him again, he had unleashed the strike with his full power!
One slash—
Even Steel Bronze was cut cleanly in two!
…
…
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