Chapter 480: The End of the Seven Star Sword Art Festival!
"The match is oveeeeeer!!!"
Commentator Iida roared into his microphone, his excited voice blasting throughout the entire venue.
"The winner! The final knight left standing on the stage! The competitor who has reached the summit of the Seven Stars this year!"
"Hagun Academy first-year A-rank knight—"
"Falling Star Sword Emperor, Luke Ashburn!!!"
The commentator's excitement.
The audience's roaring enthusiasm.
And the several Desperados who quietly slipped away from the venue.
The Seven Star Sword Art Festival had truly come to an end.
Luke, however, did not get to see any of that.
Because by then—He had already been sent to the hospital.
Looking at that familiar yet unfamiliar ceiling, Luke let out a long sigh.
"I never thought I'd experience getting hospitalized twice in such a short period."
"Oh? Then should I be saying 'congratulations' instead of 'we meet again'?"
A familiar voice reached him.
Luke turned his head and, sure enough, saw a certain green-haired young doctor.
After taking a jab at Luke, Yakushi Kiriko did not wait for his response.
Instead, she curiously looked him up and down before clicking her tongue in amazement.
"No matter how many times I see it, your abnormal recovery speed still surprises me."
"You suffered two nearly identical wounds in exactly the same place."
"They weren't fatal, but they were definitely severe injuries."
"An ordinary Blazer would need at least two or three days in bed before fully recovering."
"But you woke up the same day, and you already look surprisingly good…"
"The more I look at you, the less human you seem."
"Kurogane-kun in the next room probably won't regain consciousness until tomorrow."
"Tsk, tsk. Compared with you, even his exceptionally strong physique starts looking ordinary."
Kiriko continued teasing while staring at Luke as though he were some rare specimen.
"…If we're talking about recovery, Stella's healing speed is even more ridiculous than mine."
Luke sighed helplessly.
His response made Kiriko pause for a moment.
Then, seemingly remembering Stella's condition, she sighed in amazement.
"That princess, huh…"
"True. If you still barely fit within the category of 'human,' then Her Highness has already crossed firmly into nonhuman territory."
"You juniors are terrifying these days."
"At this rate, we seniors will probably be left so far behind within a year that we won't even see your backs anymore."
Despite her words, Kiriko did not seem particularly bothered.
After all, she had never intended to become a professional Mage-Knight.
As a doctor, Kiriko cared far more about improving her medical skills.
How strong she was or whether someone surpassed her in combat were things she barely cared about.
Perhaps she had deliberately timed things around Luke waking up.
While chatting with him, Kiriko once again used her ability to examine his body.
After confirming that nothing was wrong, she prepared to leave.
Before going, she sent Luke an email through his student handbook.
It contained an address and contact information.
"This is the address of Yakushi General Hospital, along with my phone number."
"Once the award ceremony is over and you have some free time, come find me in Hiroshima."
"Summer vacation is pretty long anyway."
"We can discuss water manipulation techniques sometime during the break."
"I'm heading out now."
"Once you feel mostly recovered, you can discharge yourself."
"And finally…"
"Congratulations on winning the championship."
Luke smiled as he watched Kiriko leave and heard her final congratulations.
Then he closed his eyes and settled back into the bed.
He decided to sleep a little longer.
Truthfully, his injuries this time were not as severe as those from his fight with Stella.
But the exhaustion was even worse.
Especially because he had formally entered the Desperado realm—And had done so by forcibly breaking through.
That had placed a considerable burden on his body.
Of course, something like this would only require a few days of rest.
Even if there were lingering problems, the Main God Space could completely heal him once he returned.
Otherwise, Luke would never have acted so recklessly.
"No matter what…"
"This really does mark the end of everything here."
[Main Quest]
[Participate in the Seven Star Sword Art Festival and place within the top three.]
[Quest Difficulty: B-rank]
[Quest Status: Completed]
[Return Countdown: 30 days (Authority Holder bonus)]
[Note: Apply to return to the Main God Space before the countdown expires.]
Even with his eyes closed, Luke could summon the Main God Space interface and its information directly within his mind.
Just like when he had been in Asterisk—The return countdown was still thirty days.
Summer vacation in the Far East was somewhat shorter than in China.
Schools in China generally had summer vacation from late June until early September.
In the Far East, it usually lasted from mid-July until early September.
One was slightly over two months.
The other was around a month and a half.
However, the Far East also had spring vacation, unlike China.
So which system was actually better depended entirely on personal preference.
Summer vacation lasted about a month and a half.
Luke could remain in this world for another thirty days.
If he wanted to maximize his available time, staying until the very end of those thirty days before returning would obviously be reasonable.
That would leave roughly half a month unaccounted for.
It would provide a convenient buffer so that when Luke eventually returned to this world, his disappearance would not create unnecessary trouble.
That said—Luke had no intention of using every last day before returning.
Handling his remaining affairs and visiting Kiriko to learn some water manipulation techniques would probably take less than half a month.
During that time, Luke also needed to consider how he should explain the Main God Space to Edelweiss.
And whether he should invite her to leave this world with him.
At that thought—Luke felt a rare trace of nervousness.
'I wonder…'
'Would Edelweiss be willing to leave with me?'
...
And so, after a long tournament, the Seven Star Sword Art Festival finally reached its closing ceremony.
Strictly speaking, there should still have been a third-place match between Touka and Stella.
However—Touka ultimately withdrew.
There was little else she could do.
After witnessing Luke versus Stella in the semifinal, even someone as confident as Touka could not find the slightest possibility of defeating Stella.
If she wanted a spar or personal challenge, she could always do that privately.
So Touka gave up her opportunity to enter the arena.
The quality of the final two matches had simply been too high.
Touka knew she could not give the audience anything remotely as spectacular.
Ending things there was probably for the best.
Otherwise, the third-place match might only have left people disappointed.
Thus—The closing ceremony and award presentation for the Seven Star Sword Art Festival were officially scheduled for the following day, after Ikki regained consciousness.
It would be the final lingering spark of this grand event.
…
…
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