Chapter 450: Human-Ghost · Eternal Future Slash!
If Luke truly cast aside all restraint, he could take Stella's head with a single strike.
She still did not understand why, but their earlier exchanges had already taught her one thing.
Against Luke, defense was practically meaningless.
In speed, Luke unquestionably held the absolute advantage.
Any cumbersome ultimate technique would be destroyed before it could ever reach him.
Creating distance would be no different.
Retreat meant having no chance of victory!
In that case—Forward!
Gather everything she possessed into one strike and challenge Luke head-on, openly and without tricks!
The heat radiating from Stella's entire body rapidly increased until it reached the absolute limit her flesh could barely withstand without melting.
Armor formed from ultimate light and heat wrapped around her.
Her ability had become so intense that it was beginning to affect even Stella herself while possessed by the concept of a dragon.
It was heat so extreme that even a Device would melt the instant it touched her!
Even Starfall Sword would be destroyed in an instant if it truly came into contact with Stella's radiance.
A blade could not touch her at all!
Even if Luke tried to sever her defenses, his weapon would disintegrate before making contact.
Absolute defense without a single opening!
Now she only needed to make her own attack land.
Then—She would win!
Having made her decision, Stella charged toward Luke with unstoppable momentum!
Like a brilliant crimson meteor.
"You really are incredible."
Luke's praise came straight from the heart.
He neither closed his eyes nor shielded them, simply staring directly into the dazzling radiance rushing toward him.
Luke had indeed spent the past year cultivating both Ikki and Stella as future opponents.
But truthfully—His expectations for Stella had always been far lower than those he held for Ikki.
Even after discovering that Stella could wield the concept of a dragon, that belief had not changed.
Yet now, Stella had proven through her actions that she was inferior to no one!
She was no longer a pursuer he could casually leave behind.
She was a rival who might surpass him the instant he let his guard down!
Against that radiance, any ordinary attack would undoubtedly be swallowed by the endless heat within it.
And yet—
"You've done more than enough, Stella."
The instant Stella's concentration reached its absolute peak, Luke's voice reached her ears.
At the same time, an impossible sense of wrongness arose.
The surrounding scenery had already vanished from Stella's awareness.
With her entire mind and body devoted to this final strike, the only thing reflected in her eyes was Luke standing before her.
So where was that overwhelming sense of wrongness coming from?
Within that stretched-out instant, almost like her life flashing before her eyes, Stella desperately searched for the answer.
Then she found it.
The voice—Had come from behind her!
Luke was clearly standing directly ahead.
Her opponent was right there, already prepared to receive her attack.
Yet his voice had reached her from behind.
In that instant, Stella whipped her head around—And saw the familiar figure.
There was no possibility of mistaking him.
She could never mistake the back she had spent an entire year chasing!
But how was this possible?!
When had Luke moved behind her?!
No.
That was wrong!
He had not moved behind her at all!
"What… is this…?"
The Luke in front of Stella remained standing exactly where he had been.
Yet another Luke also stood behind her.
One faced her.
The other had his back turned to her.
Neither figure was an illusion.
Neither was fake.
Both were real!
Because the Luke standing behind Stella—Came from the future!
Dual-Life-Sword · Secret Technique!
Human-Ghost · Eternal Future Slash!
Then Stella saw it.
Luke drew his sword.
And the instant he did—The Luke standing before her disappeared.
It was not speed.
The Luke in front of Stella simply vanished as though he had never existed there to begin with.
Click—!
The crisp sound of a blade returning to its sheath echoed across the battlefield.
At the same moment—Blood erupted into the air.
Slash—!
The one wounded was—Stella Vermillion!
Five sword wounds appeared across Stella's body simultaneously!
Blood sprayed uncontrollably from every one of them!
"S-Stella has been wounded!"
"No—the Crimson Princess is bleeding!"
"In that instant when crimson flame and starlight crossed, the one who broke through his opponent was the Falling Star Sword Emperor—Luke Ashburn!!!"
The commentator's scream immediately rang out.
But all he could do was announce the result everyone had seen.
Everyone had witnessed what happened during that instant—Yet no one could understand it.
"W-What the hell just happened?!"
"Don't ask me! I have no idea!"
"All I understood was that Sword Emperor-sama defeated Her Highness! I stopped understanding this fight ages ago!"
"Seriously?! He overturned the battle even against Stella in that state?!"
"Wait… did Sword Emperor-sama hold back?"
"Princess Stella didn't take a fatal wound."
"But wouldn't she just regenerate instantly if that were the case?"
"D-Don't tell me…!"
As the entire venue erupted into chaos, Luke and Stella, who had passed each other, finally moved.
"Cough…!"
"Urgh—!"
Stella spat out a large mouthful of blood.
Her stance immediately collapsed, and she dropped onto one knee.
The wounds across her body showed absolutely no sign of healing.
She could barely keep herself from collapsing completely by leaning on Laevateinn for support.
The vitality of the dragon was no longer functioning.
Looking closely, one could also see that Stella's spilled blood was no longer burning like before.
That was right.
Dragon Spirit had already been released.
Luke was not the only one who had been forcing himself to continue fighting while completely exhausted.
Stella had maintained Dragon Spirit for an extended period, regenerated enormous amounts of damage, and repeatedly forced herself to grow and evolve throughout the match.
Her body had finally reached its limit.
Her flesh could no longer endure any more.
Every reserve of energy used to sustain Dragon Spirit had also been completely exhausted.
Naturally, manifesting the concept of a dragon was not a power Stella could use freely without any cost at her current level.
Before the match, she had spent more than an entire day eating, storing energy, and adjusting her condition.
She had even entered deep sleep to reduce her energy consumption to the absolute minimum.
Only through all that preparation had she managed to maintain Dragon Spirit throughout the entire match.
And Luke's final attack—Had actually inflicted five fatal wounds.
The reason they now appeared merely moderate was that they had already been healed.
It was during that final act of regeneration that Stella's body reached its breaking point.
Dragon Spirit was forcibly canceled.
Now, forget regenerating—Stella could barely even remain conscious.
The victor had been decided!
…
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