Chapter 261: Sword Eater!
"Improving the level of magic control, huh…"
While walking together with Luke on the road back to school, Stella kept recalling the conversation she had just had with the boy in her heart.
Just as she had expected beforehand, Luke had indeed pointed out the direction she should move in next.
"I'll go ask Shizuku for advice later."
The girl continued walking behind Luke while constructing her future training plan in her mind.
The quiet atmosphere continued until the two of them were stopped by an unexpected uninvited guest.
"Hey, it's you, right? That guy from Hagun who's called the 'Sword Emperor.'"
Along with a rough voice, the one blocking Luke and Stella's path was a tall man around 1.8 meters in height.
His hair was dyed, and the pair of eyes hidden behind sunglasses contained an undisguisable ferocity.
His upper clothes hung loosely on his body, and the open part of his chest revealed a grinning skull tattoo.
Behind him followed more than a dozen delinquent-like youths. Relying on their numbers, they completely blocked the direction Luke and Stella were moving in.
"So this guy is the target Kuroudo is looking for?"
"He doesn't look like anything special? Fallen Star Sword Emperor? Titles these days really are given out casually."
"Hurry up and finish it. I still want to go play video games."
The noisy voices instantly broke the originally quiet atmosphere.
The surrounding delinquents seemed to even intend to reach out and shove Luke.
"Get out of my way!"
However, before Luke could give a reaction, the skull-tattooed man leading them shouted and stopped them first.
"Originally, I heard that Ayase recently hooked up with a group of eye-catching guys, so I planned to come take a look…"
"I didn't expect there would really be prey like you."
Luke looked with interest at the man with the skull tattoo in front of him.
He knew this person.
Kurashiki Kuroudo, the ace of Donrou Academy, last year's top eight in the Seven Star Sword Art Festival, with the title of "Sword Eater."
Moreover, judging from the clothes worn by those delinquents behind him, they were probably all students of Donrou Academy.
Although he had no particular interest in the matter of the Ayatsuji dojo being taken away, he was still slightly curious about Kuroudo, the culprit behind it.
Looking at this person who was exactly the same as in his impression, Luke asked with some curiosity:
"Does wearing sunglasses at night not affect your vision?"
"Hah???"
Kuroudo could be considered to have broadened his horizons this time.
In order to fight strong people, he had provoked countless people.
Among them, there were those who were disdainful, those who were angry, those who were calm, those who were afraid, and those who were fanatical.
But this was the first time he had seen someone like Luke, whose focus had completely gone off track.
"Interesting… You bastard, are you provoking me?"
Kuroudo felt tension welling up from the bottom of his heart the moment he first saw Luke.
This chilling, hair-raising feeling that made one's heart tremble—he had not encountered it for a long time.
The temperature of his body rapidly rose, the blood throughout his body seemed to boil, and an uncontrollable, fanatical fighting spirit began to rise!
"Interesting, this is really too amusing. Among you swordsmen, there are always some guys who can make me feel excited!"
"You're clearly different from the others. Come fight me! Take out your Device!"
As he said that, Kuroudo summoned his own Device and, without any warning, chopped down at Luke's head.
Whoosh—!
The completely pale odachi, as if carved from white bone, cut through the air and attacked Luke at extremely high speed!
Clang—!
The Sword Sheath of Tranquility, which had appeared horizontally between the two of them at some unknown time, effortlessly blocked this sudden strike.
"You bastard… That's not your Device, is it?!"
"Summon your Device! Do you think you can fight me with that kind of toy?!"
Kuroudo looked at Luke with a displeased expression.
Although he did not know what exactly the uniquely shaped sword the boy had taken down from his waist was, it was definitely not a Device.
Kuroudo could still make that level of judgment.
The other party actually intended to use an "ordinary weapon" to contend against his Device, "Orochimaru."
Was the boy looking down on him?
"Sorry, the school has a rule that abilities can't be used outside school grounds."
"Although I know that given your and my importance in the school, it's unlikely we'd be punished, I still don't want to cause trouble for myself."
As Luke said this, he also glanced slightly toward a nearby corner.
"Also, against you, I probably don't need to draw my sword."
"Heh… haha… hahaha. Since that's the case, then I'll force you to draw it!"
A dangerous light flashed in Kuroudo's eyes.
Bang—!
As magic power poured into his legs, Kuroudo directly shattered the ground beneath him.
He tightly gripped the serrated-bladed odachi in his right hand and slashed at Luke with all his strength.
What Kuroudo displayed was an extremely rough self-taught sword style.
His attack method, full of openings and crude in technique, was not even qualified to be called "swordsmanship."
He had no idea on how to use the weapon in his hand and was purely relying on brute force.
Rather than calling it a "slash," it was actually more like "smashing."
However, this seemingly reckless attack was astonishingly swift!
Clang, clang, clang, clang—!
Four clear sounds of weapons clashing rang out in succession, almost at the same time.
"Four flashes in one slash?!"
The miraculous special skill Kuroudo displayed made even Stella, who was standing nearby, unable to keep herself from speaking out in surprise.
The continuous slashes fell upon the Sword Sheath of Tranquility. Every one of Kuroudo's attacks had several flashes light cutting across at the same time.
Under the enhancement of magic, his strength was extremely astonishing, simply like a wild beast.
The blade swung by relying on wild instinct was just like the claws of a ferocious beast.
It contained not the slightest belief or reasoning—only a barbaric strength that made others submit through pure power!
However…
"Why?"
"Why can't I cut him?!"
Clang, clang, clang, clang—!
Again and again, the sword strikes were lightly and casually blocked by Luke.
That expression of his, as if he were looking down from above and reviewing and evaluating him, caused the pressure in Kuroudo's heart to continuously increase.
"Damn it! Why?!"
"Pursue the enemy! Jakkojin!"
Along with Kuroudo's roar, the blade of the Device "Orochimaru" suddenly twisted like a real snake.
Whoosh—!
The blade, which suddenly stretched out, twisted through the air like a long whip, then cut through a strange curve and attacked toward his opponent's back!
However…
Clang—!
The Sword Sheath of Tranquility, which instantly moved behind him, once again blocked this attack.
At the same time, Luke's words entered Kuroudo's ears.
"What a pity. With talent like yours, not learning swordsmanship really is too much of a pity."
"You are completely wasting your own talent."
Luke looked at Kuroudo and sighed with some regret:
"If you want to continue moving forward, how about trying to find a swordsmanship style that can deeply draw out your own 'abnormality' and learn it?"