Chapter 448: I Can't Win!
Once the Seven Star Sword Art Festival ended and Luke completed the Main Quest, he would return to the Main God Space.
He had no guarantee that he could still enter this world's unique Desperado realm after leaving.
And he had no idea how long it would be before he returned.
So the safest choice was to complete the breakthrough before leaving and bring the Desperado realm back with him as part of his own strength.
That meant Luke could not afford to wait.
Unfortunately, crossing into the realm of a Desperado was anything but easy.
Still, when it came to growth, breakthroughs, and surpassing one's limits, there was one universal "shortcut."
A brush with death!
That was right.
When a person approached death, their potential could be forced out to its absolute limit.
And if they overcame death, they could achieve unimaginable growth!
Of course, there was a prerequisite for taking such a shortcut.
Talent!
One needed to possess the potential for tremendous growth in the first place.
Otherwise, just as Kurono had said, it would simply be suicide.
As for Luke's talent…
There was hardly any need to question it.
So everything had actually gone exactly according to his calculations—Of course not.
Luke had never thought that deeply about it.
His reasoning was very simple.
Doing this could make him stronger.
If he let this opportunity pass, he had no idea when another would appear.
Knowing those two things was enough.
As for the price being a direct confrontation with death…
Well.
Luke had barely considered that part at all.
There was nothing particularly frightening about death, and Luke did not believe he would actually die here.
After all, although he had deliberately refrained from using them for the sake of fairness during the tournament, Luke possessed more than one life-saving item.
The risk was not zero.
But if he were too afraid to face even this level of danger, Luke could never have grown as strong as he was today.
So he deliberately forced himself into a desperate situation.
When his energy was nearly exhausted, Luke intentionally allowed Stella to break through his defenses.
Then, while unable to dodge or defend, he took her ultimate attack head-on.
His goal was to use the danger and overwhelming sense of death created by Stella's completely unrestricted strike—And force himself to touch the gate to the Desperado realm ahead of time.
As for the result—It was both a success and a failure.
Luke had indeed shortened the time needed to reach the Desperado realm by an enormous amount at the critical moment.
But he had still failed to truly reach the gate.
If he had to describe it, his fingertips had barely managed to touch it.
He was less than half a step away from being close enough to push it open.
That strange state—Having touched the gate, already possessing enough strength to push it open, yet still falling just barely short of reaching it—Had caused Luke's maximum mana capacity to begin increasing even though he had not become a true Desperado.
Unlike an actual Desperado, his mana would not begin increasing without an upper limit.
Luke's current growth was still finite.
If quantified, his mana capacity would probably rise from C-rank to B-rank before stopping once again.
Naturally, this process was gradual.
The growth was not especially fast and would occur little by little.
Luke had no idea whether this world had an established name for such a state.
But if he had to classify it himself—Then he could only call it "Pseudo-Desperado."
This outcome had actually been within Luke's expectations.
He was somewhat disappointed that he had failed to truly enter the Desperado realm.
But this had not been a genuine life-or-death crisis.
Achieving this much growth was already more than enough to satisfy him.
The others, however, could not remain nearly as calm.
Especially Kurono.
Luke's actions had practically shattered her entire worldview.
They felt like the greatest possible mockery of the choice she had once made.
And Luke was now a student of Hagun Academy.
Her student.
"What the hell…"
"Why would you go this far…?"
"Once you become a Desperado… once you step onto that path, there's no turning back…"
"Why…?"
"Was I wrong…?"
Kurono was deeply shaken.
Not because someone was becoming a Desperado in front of her.
But because that person was Luke—A student whose growth she had personally watched throughout the past year.
More importantly, his battle with Stella resembled the battles between Kurono and Nene far too closely.
Yet the conclusion was completely different.
One person had reached the gate almost effortlessly—And then chosen to turn away.
In a sense, that decision had been a betrayal of Nene, the opponent who had chased after her.
Kurono had convinced herself with excuses.
Marriage.
Wanting an ordinary life.
But only Kurono herself knew the entire truth.
The other person, meanwhile—Was willing to throw away even his own life and confront death just to push open that gate sooner.
"That gate…"
"The depths beyond it…"
"Didn't either of you feel it?"
"You… and him…"
"Why would both of you make choices like this…?"
Seeing Kurono like this, Nene's smile disappeared.
Her lips parted as though she wanted to say something.
But in the end, only a sigh escaped.
She turned her gaze away with a faintly lonely expression.
...
The sudden change in the arena stirred countless emotions throughout the venue.
Kurono and Nene were especially affected, both sinking into deep shock and memories of the past.
But the person most shaken was undoubtedly Stella, standing directly across from Luke.
"What… is this?!"
As Luke's opponent, Stella understood better than anyone.
There was absolutely no doubt that Luke's mana had been almost completely exhausted in their previous exchanges.
Only after truly fighting Luke at full power did Stella realize how shallow her previous understanding of him had been.
His mana had been drained again and again.
Yet whenever he approached his limit, it would somehow be replenished as though he possessed a reserve energy source.
There was also another kind of energy completely different from mana.
During this battle, Stella had vaguely begun to sense that mysterious power as well.
She knew it must be one of Luke's secrets, so she had no intention of digging into it.
But regardless of the details—At the final moment, his mana, that mysterious energy, and even the hidden reserve source had all clearly been almost exhausted.
So what was happening now?
Had his mana recovered?
No.
Impossible.
Mana recovery did not look like this.
Throughout the battle, Stella had sensed Luke restoring his mana countless times through that reserve source.
But what she felt now was fundamentally different.
Before Stella could think any further, Luke's voice reached her.
"Hey, Stella."
"Were you just thinking that you'd finally surpassed me?"
There was no overwhelming pressure in his voice.
Yet as Stella looked at the sword point aimed toward her once again, her entire body suddenly trembled.
With excitement!
That was right.
It had always been like this.
Luke had stood before Stella like an enormous mountain.
Incomprehensibly strong.
Unreasonably strong.
No matter how desperately she and Ikki chased him, the distance between them never seemed to shrink.
That feeling made Stella admire him.
Yearn toward him.
And respect him from the bottom of her heart.
But after awakening her true ability—After using Dragon Spirit and finally facing Luke directly—That feeling had disappeared.
Luke was still powerful.
But he no longer seemed impossibly distant.
He no longer felt completely unbeatable.
Alongside her excitement, Stella had also felt a strange sense of loss and uncertainty.
For the past year, Luke had existed as an unreachable goal.
Because of that, Stella had been able to grow without restraint, always knowing exactly what she was chasing.
But if she truly surpassed Luke—If there was no longer anyone ahead of her worth chasing—Then where was she supposed to go next?
Truthfully, the thought frightened her a little.
But now—She no longer needed to worry about any of that.
Because that feeling had returned!
From the battered figure covered in wounds, radiating almost no pressure at all—Stella felt it again.
'I can't win!'
…
…
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