Chapter 422: Destroying a Flower Without Mercy?
A massive wound appeared across Sara's body, stretching almost the entire length of her front. Blood sprayed outward, staining a large area around her crimson.
The sight stunned every spectator.
Deaths had occurred before in the Seven Star Sword Art Festival.
Every competitor signed something resembling a waiver before participating, and the rules acknowledged that death was a possible outcome.
After all, these were genuine battles with real weapons.
Being a Mage-Knight was no game. It was a profession that required people to fight criminals with their lives on the line.
Even so, under normal circumstances, both the operating committee and competitors did their best to avoid fatalities.
Normal people did not want to become killers, even if the killing was technically legal.
It also created terrible publicity that could damage a competitor's future career.
When deaths did occur, they were usually accidental.
They tended to happen when both competitors were exhausted and committed everything to one final attack.
Even then, professional Mage-Knights and teachers stationed nearby were usually prepared to intervene.
Thus, while deaths could occur at the Festival, they were extremely rare.
This time, however, no one stopped Luke.
No one could keep up with the speed of Twin-Wings Sword Style.
If they had been actively fighting him, perhaps a few powerful people could have reacted.
But everyone was outside the arena and had to respond after the fact.
Under those circumstances, almost no one could stop Luke's godspeed strike.
Only two people present could possibly manage it.
Nene and Kurono!
However, both trusted Luke enormously.
Neither had imagined he would suddenly kill someone, so by the time they tried to move, they were already too late.
Kurono reacted first.
She had no time to consider why Luke had done it. Her immediate instinct was to stop time and rush into the arena.
With her time-reversal ability, a death that had occurred only seconds earlier could still be undone.
Unfortunately, the brief moment of shock caused by Luke's actions made her miss that opportunity.
After striking Sara once, Luke showed no intention of stopping.
His sword changed direction.
Starfall Sword, still carrying a streak of blood, transformed into a cruel crimson arc and slashed viciously toward Sara lying on the ground!
Slash—!
With the sound of steel cutting flesh, a head rolled across the arena.
The entire venue fell silent.
Everyone stared at Luke in horror.
Even Kurono and Nene froze.
The sudden killing blow was impossible to believe.
Unlike the stunned spectators, Luke had no time for such thoughts.
Almost the instant he finished off "Sara," violent sword energy mixed with sword intent swept across the entire arena.
Then—
"Found you!"
In the next instant, Luke ignored the "corpse" on the ground.
Amakakeru-Ryū-no-Hirameki erupted once again as he flashed toward another position!
Slash—!
Sword light flashed.
Another head fell!
It was another Sara!
The figure Luke had suddenly cut down from what seemed like empty space looked exactly identical to Sara.
Her clothes, presence, body, and even the blood scattering through the air perfectly recreated the previous scene.
Only now did the surrounding spectators finally realize that something was wrong.
Noble Art: Trick Art!
This Noble Art could make puppets appear completely indistinguishable from genuine humans.
Sara had used it once during the attack on Hagun Academy.
This version was even more realistic than the one she had displayed back then.
Had Luke not seen it before and prepared himself, even he might have been deceived just like the audience.
After killing the second puppet, Luke still showed no intention of stopping.
The sword energy and sword intent spreading across the arena had already reflected every presence back to him.
Sara had prepared more than just two puppets.
She had probably placed them while moving throughout the arena earlier.
Luke did not know how she stored them, but considering the abilities she had already shown, a color capable of spatial storage would hardly be surprising.
There were four responses in total.
Including Sara herself, only two remained.
Luke assumed the stance for Amakakeru-Ryu-no-Hirameki for the third time.
At that exact moment, Sara helplessly released the magic covering her body.
"Tch. Didn't you ever consider what would happen if you actually hit my real body?"
Color Magic: Roadside Stone Gray!
It was not genuine invisibility.
Instead, it reduced Sara's presence to an extreme degree, making her as insignificant as a pebble beside the road.
An enemy would simply fail to consciously notice her existence.
The technique was terrifyingly effective, but it also possessed significant weaknesses.
One was its inability to deal with large-area detection.
Luke's sword energy and sword intent had covered the entire arena, exposing her immediately.
Sara reluctantly revealed herself.
This time, Luke had happened to target her real body.
To avoid being brutally decapitated, she could only release Roadside Stone Gray before his attack arrived.
She did not dare gamble her life on whether Luke could truly distinguish her from the puppets created by Trick Art.
Watching Luke slaughter those two puppets had sent a chill through Sara.
Under the effect of her Noble Art, they were completely identical to real humans.
Even when someone knew they were only puppets, cutting them down felt exactly like killing an actual person.
Yet Luke had remained completely unmoved.
He had not hesitated or paused for even an instant.
The blood-soaked killing intent he released in that moment had nearly made Sara's legs give out.
As a collaborator with Rebellion who had traveled the world searching for models, Sara had arguably seen even more than Edelweiss.
She had encountered every kind of person and visited plenty of war-torn regions.
Even so, this was the first time she had ever felt killing intent this dense.
It was an aura that could only be forged through years—perhaps more than a decade—of relentless killing.
Forget a teenage boy.
Even an adult several decades old would struggle to develop such an aura.
More importantly, where could anyone even find enough enemies to kill?
Given Luke's age, Sara could not imagine what he had experienced.
For a teenager to develop such an aura, he would have needed to spend nearly ten years fighting without rest.
But…
Was that truly possible?
A body like a god.
An aura like a demon.
That bizarre combination terrified Sara, yet at the same time, it filled her with emotion.
"Simply… perfect!"
"I absolutely have to make you my model!"
Sara stared at Luke, who had already assumed his stance again.
The Brush of Demiurge in her hand traced one final stroke across the ground.
The moment the painting beneath her feet was completed, Sara fearlessly raised her eyes toward Luke.
Her expression seemed to tell him only one thing.
The second stage was beginning!
…
…
[PS: Love this fanfiction? Then, vote for more chapters. ;) If this fanfic reaches 100+ powerstones, I will increase the daily upload frequency. Also, don't forget to write a review!]
---
Read more than 40 chapters in advance:
patréon.com/Tom22
Replace "é" with "e" on your web browser.
---
For Audiobook:
youtube.com/@animefic22