Chapter 425: A Battle at the End of This World's Swordsmanship!
Unbelievable.
The shock was so overwhelming that many people even forgot to breathe.
Few had ever seen her in person, but almost everyone had seen photographs or footage of her.
After all, she was the world's most wanted criminal. Even now, her wanted posters could easily be found online.
Recognizing her was one thing.
Accepting what they were seeing was another matter entirely.
"T-That figure… Am I hallucinating…?"
The commentator's words came out in fragments, his voice wavering as he fell into complete confusion.
He was far from the only one.
The audience had descended into chaos as well.
"You've got to be kidding! Purple Caricature can even reproduce other Blazers?!"
"That's not the important part! That's… that's Twin-Wings!"
"The power of that attack just now… Don't tell me Bloody Da Vinci perfectly reproduced her strength too?!"
Noble Art: Purple Caricature—Twin-Wings Edelweiss!
Faced with such an astonishing ability, everyone froze in fear.
At this point, Sara's power could no longer be described simply as strong.
It was an abnormality beyond ordinary understanding.
A realm that normal Blazers could never hope to reach.
When it came purely to developing one's own ability, Sara's Purple Caricature could truly be called unparalleled in the world.
Ironically, Sara's officially registered Blazer rank was only C.
Competitors hiding their strength had appeared in previous Seven Star Sword Art Festivals.
But one only needed to look at the pure-white Valkyrie proudly standing in the ruined arena.
Sara's so-called hidden strength was terrifying beyond reason.
Akatsuki Academy's final trump card truly possessed the power to overturn an impossible situation!
The surrounding spectators might still doubt it.
Some might desperately convince themselves that this Edelweiss was merely an imitation.
But Luke, who had truly fought Edelweiss before, knew the truth.
The Twin-Wings standing before him was unquestionably genuine!
Her overwhelming strength, razor-sharp sword intent, towering sword energy, incomparable pressure, and suffocating tension—
Even the faint Sword Domain hidden behind her sword intent was identical to Edelweiss herself.
Only Luke in this world could truly understand it.
Only Luke could state with certainty that this Twin-Wings was not inferior to Edelweiss herself in the slightest!
If there were differences, they were her reduced mana reserves and the inability to reproduce the Desperado realm.
The reduction in mana was inevitable.
Even with Sara's A-rank mana capacity, she could never match Edelweiss's reserves.
Those had accumulated through many years within the Desperado realm.
As for the Desperado realm itself, an existence that had transcended fate was not something Sara could reproduce at her current level.
Even so, this Edelweiss was terrifying enough.
For swordsmen at Luke and Edelweiss's level, the difference in mana quantity mattered very little.
As long as they were not severely lacking, even ordinary C-rank reserves were more than sufficient.
Luke stared at that flawless pure-white figure.
At the pair of platinum-white longswords resembling outstretched wings.
He would never mistake that dreamlike figure now.
"Ha…"
"Hahahaha!"
Luke laughed.
Then he burst into wild laughter.
An uncontrollable surge of joy erupted from the bottom of his heart.
And then—
Boom—!
Alongside his frenzied laughter, an enormous sword intent surged into the heavens!
Sword energy mixed within it as Luke released everything without restraint!
Heaven and earth seemed to split apart.
That was no exaggeration.
Faced with Luke's violent sword intent, Twin-Wings instantly released her own icy sword intent without hesitation.
Sword intent collided with sword intent.
Two enormous torrents of sword energy swept through everything around them and seemed to divide heaven from earth!
The arena had already shattered from their previous clash.
Now, it was reduced further into a wasteland of broken stone and churned earth.
The collision of their auras naturally spread toward the audience and dragged everyone out of their stunned silence.
Screams immediately erupted everywhere!
Countless spectators curled into themselves and hid beneath their seats, trembling as they cried out in fear.
Even Stella and Ikki instinctively summoned their Devices and immediately retreated to the outermost edge of the stands.
No one was exempt from the pressure striking directly at their hearts.
Everyone felt the terror of death!
Even from the residual pressure alone, cold sweat poured continuously down their bodies.
This was a clash between the world's greatest swordsmen!
The power found at the very end of this world's swordsmanship!
"I know you defeated Twin-Wings twice."
Sara stood behind Twin-Wings.
Under Edelweiss's deliberate protection, she was not greatly affected by the pressure.
Unlike the spectators who could not even speak beneath the overwhelming presence, Sara was still able to talk without too much difficulty.
"To win this match and our wager, I studied the reports of those two battles in detail."
"And after seeing how unexpectedly close you and Edelweiss-sama were yesterday, I finally found the slightest possibility of victory."
Luke knew exactly what Sara meant.
And that was precisely why he was so delighted.
If this were merely Twin-Wings, Luke now had countless reasons to spar with the real Edelweiss whenever he wanted.
Perhaps in the past he would have been ecstatic.
Now, he would still be pleased, but not truly excited.
What filled him with joy was the killing intent!
That absolute determination to win at any cost!
This was the first time Luke had ever felt such an intent from "Edelweiss."
The real Edelweiss had never possessed such an intense desire for victory.
Even during their two brutal battles, she had never truly intended to kill Luke at all costs.
After they became lovers, such a thought became even more impossible.
She would even unconsciously hold back because she could not bear to hurt him.
But this Edelweiss was different.
Defeat you!
No matter what it takes, defeat you!
Killing intent, an overwhelming desire for victory, complete disregard for her own life, and a willingness to sacrifice anything to win!
In this state, excluding Desperado power, this Edelweiss was already performing beyond the real one.
"I told you."
"I will win!"
The instant Sara declared her victory with unwavering determination, Edelweiss moved!
—!
A completely silent sword strike!
Her second platinum-white sword slipped around the two blades already locked together and instantly approached Luke!
Boom—!
The strike crashed into the ground and carved out a massive fissure.
But Luke, who had been standing directly in its path, had vanished.
In the next instant, he appeared beside Edelweiss.
Starfall Sword slashed mercilessly toward her neck!
—!
Another completely silent sword strike!
It was—the exact same Twin-Wings Sword Style!
…
…
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