Chapter 451: A Rare Unfamiliar Ceiling!
The screams of her body and exhaustion of her mind instinctively urged Stella to collapse.
But she refused.
'I can't… fall down…'
Forcing her body to obey, Stella squeezed out the last of her strength and stood again.
'I can't… lower my head…'
Call it stubbornness or refusing to accept defeat.
'I can't look away!'
Leaning on Laevateinn, Stella desperately forced herself to move forward!
Her body swayed, and her consciousness was already fading, yet her eyes remained firmly fixed on Luke.
One step.
Two steps.
Three…
When she finally reached him, Stella raised her fist and threw a feeble punch.
Then—
Crack—!
With a crisp sound, Laevateinn, which had been supporting her body, finally reached its limit.
The golden greatsword shattered apart and dissolved into countless sparks of fire.
Without its support, Stella toppled forward in the middle of her punch.
Thump.
A very soft impact followed.
Luke caught Stella in his arms before she could fall to the ground.
At the same time, Stella's final "attack" landed against him.
There was no strength left in the fist that struck his body.
It merely tapped him lightly.
"Next time… cough… I-I definitely… won't lose…"
Those were the final words Stella managed to convey to Luke.
Her barely audible voice carried overwhelming unwillingness to accept defeat.
Yet the smile on her face was one of complete satisfaction.
Luke smiled helplessly and leaned closer to her ear.
At the final instant before Stella lost consciousness, he quietly answered,
"I'll be waiting."
...
Beep—!
The instant Stella passed out, the signal announcing the end of the match rang through the venue!
At the same time, the commentator's magically amplified voice echoed across the entire arena.
(PS: The broadcast system had been destroyed.)
"The match is over!!!"
"A comeback followed by another comeback! A desperate battle where both competitors gave absolutely everything!"
"And at the very end, the one still standing in the arena is…"
"The winner!"
"Hagun Academy First-Year, A-rank Knight—Falling Star Sword Emperor Luke Ashburn!!!"
"OOOOOOOOOOOOH—!!!"
Cheers!
Thunderous cheers!
Fanatical cheers!
An eruption of applause and screaming shook the entire venue!
Every spectator rose to their feet, clapping with all their strength and cheering wildly.
Whether they had supported Luke or Stella, everyone now offered their respect to both competitors.
This had only been a semifinal.
Yet its brilliance and brutality surpassed anything seen in the finals of previous Festivals.
There was little doubt that, like the legendary match between World Clock and Yaksha Princess, this battle would still be discussed years—even decades—from now.
The cheering continued for a long time.
Afterward, committee chairman Kaieda even gave a speech.
Luke knew none of that.
Because not long after answering Stella's final declaration, he lost consciousness as well.
Unlike Stella's dragon vitality, Luke's regeneration was powerful but not enough to completely heal severe wounds in the middle of battle.
He had accumulated countless injuries, taken one of Stella's ultimate techniques head-on, and forcibly used the power of fate without actually being a Desperado.
In truth, Luke's condition was even worse than Stella's.
Stella was merely completely exhausted and had suffered moderate injuries at the very end.
Luke was different.
He had genuinely suffered more than one fatal injury.
His Adventurer physique kept those wounds from killing him outright, but he still ended up being carried into the hospital on a stretcher.
When he finally woke up, what entered his vision was the rare sight of—An unfamiliar ceiling.
...
"My, my. As expected of you. You woke up a little earlier than I predicted."
Luke had only just opened his eyes and was still staring blankly at the ceiling when a gentle voice sounded beside him.
Immediately afterward, a small hand waved in front of his eyes, apparently checking whether he was truly awake.
Luke turned his head toward the green-haired figure dressed in white.
He blinked in surprise.
"Kiriko?"
"You're back?"
Sitting beside Luke's hospital bed was none other than the White-Robed Knight, Yakushi Kiriko.
"The situation at the hospital has already been resolved…"
"Tch. More accurately, by the time I got back, everyone was already fine."
"I calmed the patients down, examined a few of the more serious cases, confirmed there were no problems, and came straight back."
"And then, the moment I got off the plane, I received a message saying someone had nearly died."
"That scared me enough to rush straight here."
"I see."
Luke nodded after listening to Kiriko's explanation.
As he felt his current physical condition, he could not help being impressed.
As expected of the League's greatest doctor.
His recovery was far better than he had anticipated.
Truthfully, before losing consciousness, Luke had expected to need some medicine after waking to assist his recovery.
Apparently, that was completely unnecessary.
Whatever method Kiriko had used, the results were almost comparable to an elixir.
"How's Stella?"
"Since you're back, I assume you were responsible for treating both of us?"
Luke slowly sat up, propped the pillow upright behind him, and leaned against it as he asked.
Kiriko picked up a cup, poured him some warm water, and handed it over with an annoyed expression.
"What is wrong with you?"
"You wake up and the first thing you ask about is your opponent?"
"I literally just said someone told me you nearly died."
"Besides, you opened your eyes to find a beautiful, gentle, kindhearted angel in white taking care of you."
"Aren't you moved at all?!"
"Uh…"
"Thank you, beautiful, gentle, kindhearted angel in white, for taking care of me?"
Luke repeated her words with an amused smile.
He knew Kiriko was joking.
Both of them understood Luke's condition perfectly well.
His injuries had been severe, but he had never truly been on the verge of death.
They had simply looked terrifying.
Whoever contacted Kiriko had probably seen Luke's gruesome injuries and unconsciously exaggerated the situation.
Still, Luke genuinely appreciated her treating him.
The reason he immediately asked about Stella was because—
"Stella's condition should be different from mine."
"I'm guessing hers is rather serious."
Kiriko paused at those words.
"You noticed?"
She looked at Luke in surprise.
"Hmm… I suppose that makes sense."
"You fought her directly. At that distance, those physical changes probably couldn't escape your perception."
"But…"
"You're seriously underestimating me."
Kiriko's lips curled upward into a somewhat smug smile.
"I'm a doctor who can even fool the Grim Reaper."
"A little problem like that was nothing."
…
…
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