Chapter 474: A New Secret Technique of the Star Sword Art!
The chance of victory was incredibly slim.
But for Ikki, there was only one thing left to do.
For the next sixty seconds—He would burn away everything that made him Kurogane Ikki!
Keep moving forward until nothing remained!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH—!!!"
His roar erupted alongside the blazing azure light.
Contained within that voice was fighting spirit without the slightest reservation!
Looking at Ikki challenging him with everything he had, Luke answered with equally boundless fighting spirit.
The next sixty seconds—Would be the last!
...
Clang—!
Clang, clang, clang, clang—!
Countless sword strikes rained toward Ikki like meteors, accompanied by fragments of blue starlight.
This time, Luke held nothing back.
With Ittou Shura active, Ikki possessed greater mana output than Luke for this single minute.
So for the first time since the final began—Luke truly swung both swords with everything he had.
Sword energy.
Sword intent.
Sword domain.
Above Luke, who was displaying his swordsmanship without reservation, an unnamed sword appeared.
That was the core of his sword domain.
Compared with the time he fought Edelweiss, Luke's sword domain had become far more solid and complete.
Through the superiority of his swordsmanship realm, Luke forcibly erased the enormous difference between their mana outputs.
Even with his limited mana and Prana reserves—Luke once again suppressed the explosively strengthened Ikki!
His sword flashed like light.
Every strike fell like thunder.
At this moment, Luke demonstrated through action alone—What it meant to be a Sword Emperor!
Yet although Ikki was being suppressed, Luke's sword pressure did not crush him.
The instant Ittou Shura was overwhelmed, something inside Ikki seemed to switch on.
Once again—He began evolving!
If he could not block Luke's strikes, he would become faster.
If he could not withstand them, he would become stronger.
If his swordsmanship could not compete—Then he would force it to transform!
Little by little, Ikki's slashes began to change.
He stopped circulating force through his body.
There was no longer enough time.
If he circulated each impact, he could not keep up with the speed of Luke's dual-sword assault.
Amid these godspeed collisions, Ikki understood that almost instantly.
And so—He reconstructed the technique.
Instead of trying to receive and redirect Luke's force, Ikki allowed the force to enter his body completely.
At the moment of impact, his entire body became utterly relaxed.
He accepted every bit of power without resistance.
Then his muscles—and every tissue throughout his body—moved together.
In a single instant, the incoming force was transformed into power belonging to his entire body—And added directly into his next slash!
It was a technique only Ikki could accomplish.
Only someone with monstrous bodily control, someone capable of overriding even his own survival instincts at will, could perform such a divine feat!
In the middle of a violent high-speed battle—He switched flawlessly between absolute exertion and complete relaxation.
A terrifying secret technique.
As long as Ikki made no mistake, it meant he would never fail to withstand a sword strike.
And the power contained within each counterattack would continue increasing—Stacking endlessly!
Even Luke could not reproduce this technique.
If his physical abilities were comparable to Ikki's, Luke could probably do something similar.
With his Precision Control skill, he might even perform it better.
But Luke's physical abilities were simply too high.
The stronger the body—The harder it became to control.
It was not that Luke lacked bodily control.
Quite the opposite.
Being able to control the monstrous body of a First-Class Adventurer almost perfectly already proved how exceptional Luke was.
If Ikki possessed Luke's exact physical abilities, even he might not be able to manipulate that body as smoothly.
The Precision Control skill deserved much of the credit.
But in this battle, Luke could not operate his body like a machine the way Ikki did.
So he could not absorb and transform an opponent's power through the same method.
At this rate—As the force within Ikki's sword continued rising, as long as he made no mistakes, it would soon surpass Luke's own.
If Luke failed to find an answer—He might genuinely lose here!
Of course—That was only if he failed to find an answer.
This world was different from the previous one.
The physical abilities of Blazers ultimately remained within mortal limits.
Because Luke possessed the monstrous physique of an Adventurer, his body had always been treated as one of his greatest advantages here.
But one should not forget—Physical ability had once been Luke's greatest weakness.
Luke possessed no superhuman talent for tempering his body.
Without Falna, his physical ability might still be his weakest attribute even now.
He could not learn Ikki's bodily-control technique.
Nor did he have any intention of trying.
From beginning to end—The only thing Luke relied upon was swordsmanship!
The instant he sensed Ikki evolving, Luke smiled.
Why had he always viewed Ikki so highly?
Why, even though Stella was currently stronger, had Luke still looked forward to fighting Ikki even more?
There was only one reason.
Only Ikki—Only this protagonist favored by fate, who expressed his unusual talent entirely through swordsmanship—Could force Luke himself to evolve!
As the force within Ikki's blade continued increasing, aided by the overwhelming mana output of Ittou Shura, he gradually began reclaiming the advantage from Luke.
The scales of victory started to tilt.
Yet Luke showed not the slightest concern.
Instead—His smile grew wider.
He calmed his mind.
Even amid this furious battle, Luke carefully perceived the path taken by the force within Ikki's blade.
Three seconds.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
Twenty seconds.
Then suddenly—Luke's entire sword style changed!
The storm-like offensive vanished.
In its place, his swords began moving according to a strange, unique rhythm.
Clang—!
Ikki was the first to notice the change after knocking Starfall Sword aside once again.
But he could not fully understand what had happened.
He merely felt that something was wrong.
Before he could think any further, Ser-Veresta swept toward him along a half-elliptical path.
Instinctively, Ikki raised his sword to deflect it and absorb its force into his next slash.
But—
Clang—!
Cough—!
A tremendous force surged into Ikki's body.
Blood immediately burst from his mouth!
There was no time for shock.
Ikki desperately controlled the rampaging force within him and, at the final possible instant, managed to incorporate it into his own strike.
Before he could even breathe in relief—Starfall Sword attacked again.
This time, Ikki's expression became extraordinarily serious.
The mistake during the previous exchange had shocked him deeply.
He focused with everything he had.
No matter what—He could not make the same mistake twice!
Clang—!
The instant Intetsu touched Starfall Sword, Ikki's expression changed.
A force vastly greater than the previous blow crashed directly into his body!
Fortunately, Ikki had prepared himself.
Otherwise, that single strike might have completely robbed him of his ability to fight.
At the same time, Luke did something rare.
In the middle of the match—He called out the name of his sword technique.
"Star Sword Art · Secret Technique—Galactic Revolution!"
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