Chapter 282: The Unwilling Twin Wings!
The one and only Noble Art that the world's strongest swordsman, "Twin Wings" Edelweiss, had developed based on her "Contract" ability was "Rule of Grace."
This ability, which could be said to offer no help in battle, could not exactly be called easy to use.
Especially for a swordsman like her.
But in truth, this also indirectly reflected just how powerful she was.
For any Blazer, their ability and the Noble Arts developed from it were important trump cards.
An excellent Blazer would possess several, or even more than a dozen, Noble Arts. Each one was an ace powerful enough to reverse the flow of battle and overturn the situation.
This was true even for Desperados who had surpassed fate.
However, as the strongest person standing at the peak of all Blazers, "Twin Wings" Edelweiss possessed an ability that did not help much in battle.
Not only that, even her Noble Art was limited to the most basic application of that one ability.
Compared to other Blazers, this was more than just a disadvantage. It was practically on a completely different level.
Yet even so, she still sat firmly upon the throne of the strongest.
For all these years, no one had been able to shake this peak of the world, this woman who "lacked" both a combat-useful Blazer ability and Noble Arts.
"My Noble Art isn't very easy to use. It even has the restriction that the target of the oath must actively swear it for the effect to activate."
"But in exchange, its binding force is unmatched."
"After all, it is still a causality interference ability. The restrictions of 'Rule of Grace' are absolute."
"So far, no method has ever been able to break an oath after it has taken effect. Even I cannot undo it."
"As long as the ability activates, the oath-taker's heart will inevitably be torn apart."
"Even if they are extremely tough, or possess an ability that allows them to resist, they ultimately cannot escape punishment from 'causality.'"
"Unless they can continue living even after their heart is torn apart, the restriction of this oath is absolute."
In truth, the potential of her ability went far beyond its current level.
If it were seriously developed in depth, every causality interference ability would become an extremely terrifying existence.
It was just that Edelweiss did not need it.
Without relying on her ability, she had already become the strongest through swordsmanship alone.
More importantly, her speed of growth had shown no signs of weakening even now.
Even after becoming the strongest, even when she had no direction left to move forward in, she was still growing stronger at an unbelievable speed.
Since she was already the strongest and would still become stronger, whether or not she developed her ability became less important.
At the very least, the Noble Art "Rule of Grace" was currently more than enough.
After all, how could a human possibly continue living after losing their heart?
Mm… that was not really wrong. At least for normal humans, this was indeed common sense.
"So, if what you said earlier was true, swear upon 'Testament.'"
After saying so much, Edelweiss, whose body and mind were both somewhat weak, subconsciously picked up the cup in her hand and drank a mouthful of hot water.
The warm liquid entered her body through her throat and gradually spread outward. The lingering cold in her body was relieved all at once.
That blissful comfort made her drink the hot water in the cup completely.
The complicated feelings she had when she first received the hot water had now vanished without a trace. All that remained was a quiet feeling of gratitude.
However, although gratitude had risen in her heart, she still stared closely at the boy, waiting for his final answer.
Unlike the somewhat nervous Edelweiss, Luke did not hesitate at all.
In his eyes, the Rebellion's plan was far less important than Edelweiss herself.
In his heart, the opportunity to fight the world's strongest swordsman was absurdly high in priority.
There was nothing worth hesitating over.
Moreover, the restriction of "the heart being torn apart" actually did not bind him all that much.
It was not that he was unafraid of his heart being torn apart, but with the support of Falna, even if that happened, he would not die on the spot.
And as long as he did not die instantly, he currently had more than one way to save himself.
An injury that was certain death in other people's eyes was not that terrifying to an agent of the Main God Space.
"I swear that before the Rebellion officially carries out its plan against Hagun Academy, I will not reveal any information related to its plan to anyone."
"That should be fine, right?"
As Luke's voice fell, a gentle white light flashed over the platinum sword.
At the same time, Edelweiss finally truly relaxed.
She took back her Device, "Testament," from him and likewise swore,
"I swear that as long as Luke keeps his promise, I will definitely agree to his requests for battle."
The same white light lit up once more.
At this moment, Edelweiss could finally continue the previous topic with him without worry.
"As I said earlier, there would originally have been a second battle between us."
"After the Rebellion's plan against Hagun Academy begins, the person responsible for stopping you from interfering will still be me."
After saying this, she looked at him with a complicated gaze.
The reason it was "complicated" was because she felt both relieved and disappointed.
She was relieved that this test had happened before the plan began.
If it had not, then when the plan officially started, Edelweiss's first confrontation with the boy would most likely have ended exactly the same way as now.
His actions, fighting style, and thought process had all surpassed her understanding.
Especially his final counterattack. Even now, she still could not understand what had caused her Device to shatter.
Facing a young swordsman with such a bright future, she would absolutely not make a killing move.
Forget Desperado-level power. She might not even use her full strength in her ordinary state.
So in a first battle against Luke, her defeat could almost be called inevitable.
That was right. Defeat.
Although he had taken advantage of a trick, the final result of the battle just now was still Edelweiss's defeat.
Even if she was countless times stronger than him, even if she could kill him effortlessly in an instant, even if she still had the trump card known as being a "Desperado" hidden away—
One could say she had been careless. One could also say she had suffered from a lack of information. This battle could even be counted as an extreme coincidence.
Because if the two of them fought again, Edelweiss, now knowing that Luke possessed an unknown ability that could sever Devices, would definitely not allow him to touch her sword so easily.
The gap in strength between them was simply too large. If they fought again, Luke could be said to truly have no chance of winning.
But in the end, all of these were only excuses.
No matter how she explained it, no matter how pleasant she made it sound, Luke had won their first exchange. That was absolute reality.
If it had not been for this test, then the Rebellion's plan might very well have collapsed because of Edelweiss, at the place that should originally have been the most foolproof.
So, even though she had tasted the first failure of her life, even though she had become someone else's defeated opponent—
Edelweiss still felt relieved about it.
However, on the other hand—
The disappointment brought by the first defeat of her life was also deeply carved into her heart.
"So this is what failure tastes like."
"So… I can feel unwilling too…"
Edelweiss looked at Luke as certain emotions she had never understood, never experienced before, quietly began to spread through her heart.
(PS: Vote for more chapters this week. If this fanfic reaches 100+ powerstones, I will upload bonus chapters next. Also, don't forget to write a review!)
---
Read more than 20 chapters in advance, with pictures, to enhance your reading immersion:
patréon.com/tom22
Replace "é" with "e" on your web browser.
---
For Audiobook:
youtube.com/@animefic22