Legendary Hero is an Academy Honors Student - Chapter 423

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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423.

 

Luke’s eyes quickly followed the trajectory of the sword Aina was drawing.

 

Clang-!

 

Luke hastily deflected the sword aiming for his neck.

 

‘Fast.’

 

The freshman year representative.

 

Aina’s sword was faster and sharper than Luke had imagined.

 

That wasn’t all.

 

Clang!

 

Sword and sword crossed, emitting sharp metallic sounds.

 

‘That’s not all either.’

 

The speed of golden flashes embroidering the air grew faster and faster.

 

The sword honed solely to cut down opponents made Luke’s heart grow cold.

 

Clang! Clang! Tang! Thwang-!

 

It wasn’t simply fast and sharp.

 

As the sword strikes continued, the weight behind Aina’s sword only increased.

 

And that weight became heavy destructive power.

 

Crash-!

 

“Kuk!”

 

Luke’s sword was knocked away by Aina’s swing.

 

In an instant, Aina dove into Luke’s defenseless embrace.

 

Luke drew up his aura to correct the trajectory of his deflected sword and swung it toward Aina.

 

Swoosh-!

 

As a silver flash flickered, Aina stepped with Aura Step to dodge Luke’s sword strike.

 

Luke’s sword narrowly missed.

 

For a moment, Aina’s center of gravity collapsed.

 

‘A chance to counterattack!’

 

Luke, who had been desperately defending against Aina’s tremendous speed, finally created an opportunity to seize the initiative in attack.

 

The moment he tried to close the distance, Luke’s eyes met Aina’s.

 

The same cold eyes as usual.

 

The moment he saw those eyes that seemed almost peaceful, Luke felt goosebumps rise all over his body.

 

Luke hastily created distance from Aina.

 

“What?”

 

“Wasn’t that a chance to counterattack?”

 

Seeing Luke abandon the attack initiative he had barely seized, the freshmen muttered with puzzled faces.

 

“What a waste!”

 

Iliana clutched her head and shouted.

 

Chelsea looked at Iliana as if she were pathetic.

 

“What? What is it?”

 

Rea, who couldn’t grasp the situation, asked with a flustered face.

 

“If Luke had attacked just now, the match would have ended right there.”

 

Eiran kindly explained the situation to Rea.

 

Luke wiped away the cold sweat flowing down his chin.

 

‘I broke her stance. But she completely read my attack range.’

 

Close combat between knights is a battle of distance.

 

All sorts of flashy techniques and powerful attacks become useless the moment the opponent sees through your attack range.

 

Of course, grasping an opponent’s range is never easy.

 

Throughout the battle, the range constantly changes according to attack patterns.

 

But Aina had accurately calculated that range in her brief exchange with Luke.

 

Even with her stance broken, she would have dodged if he attacked.

 

‘If I had attacked, I would have been the one hit.’

 

The reason she barely dodged was also a trap to draw him deeper in.

 

Luke took a deep breath and gripped his sword again.

 

Watching Luke, Aina pointed her sword at him.

 

As Aina took one step forward, her figure disappeared.

 

Luke hastily swung his sword toward the right.

 

Crash-!

 

Though Luke barely blocked the attack containing tremendous power, he couldn’t withstand all the force and was pushed back, rolling on the ground.

 

“Kuk!”

 

Luke hastily got up and readied his stance.

 

In that time, Aina, who had come within arm’s reach of Luke, swung her sword.

 

‘I can’t take it head-on.’

 

His palms were numb and his wrists ached.

 

If he continued to receive such impacts, it was obvious he would self-destruct in an instant.

 

He had to somehow deflect the attacks and minimize the impact.

 

Bang-!

 

Once again sword clashed with sword and Luke was knocked back.

 

‘I can’t reduce the impact!’

 

What made Aina the year representative during the first semester of freshman year was thanks to the overwhelming speed and power contained in her sword.

 

But Aina’s true nature wasn’t that.

 

It was swordsmanship.

 

Befitting the great-granddaughter of the Sword Saint, Aina’s swordsmanship, honed sharply from childhood, was overwhelming.

 

No matter how Luke tried to deflect the attacks, Aina’s technique blocked it.

 

Power, speed, and technique too.

 

Aina was a knight who possessed everything perfectly.

 

‘What should I do.’

 

Luke gritted his teeth.

 

If he stayed like this, he would be defeated.

 

He looked straight at Aina approaching at tremendous speed.

 

‘If I wait for her to come or retreat, I’ll just be hit by Aina’s sword.’

 

Luke lowered his stance.

 

‘Then.’

 

Whoosh-!

 

Luke kicked off the ground and charged at Aina.

 

Instantly, Aina’s eyes widened.

 

Luke, who had become a silver flash approaching Aina, swung his sword first.

 

Crash-!

 

‘I attacked first…’

 

“Huh?”

 

The moment sword clashed with sword, Luke was knocked back and crashed into the ground.

 

Laughter erupted from among the freshmen who called themselves the Aina Faction.

 

“How crude. Did he think something would happen by charging first?”

 

“Disgraceful!”

 

“He got lucky making it to the semifinals, but now his true colors are showing.”

 

Those who proclaimed themselves the Aina Faction and called themselves the top students of the freshman year couldn’t accept Luke’s upset, who had been at the bottom of the year.

 

But contrary to their reaction, Aina’s eyes, facing Luke, were slightly trembling.

 

Luke was smiling.

 

‘What is this kid really.’

 

***

 

Selia made an expression of disbelief.

 

“Are you ignorant? Or do you have good judgment?”

 

“Probably both.”

 

At Leo’s answer, Selia made an expression of understanding.

 

“True.”

 

Some of the freshmen couldn’t understand Luke’s reckless charge at Aina, but the other years were different.

 

They accurately saw through that Luke had reduced the power contained in Aina’s sword.

 

“To think of charging in advance to block the attack before it could unfold in such a short time. Not bad.”

 

“He always had good eyes.”

 

Leo said while watching the match.

 

“His ability to constantly observe others and absorb what he needs was also excellent.”

 

In that fleeting moment, he instinctively saw through a way to counter Aina.

 

“From Aina’s perspective, it must be bewildering.”

 

Leo chuckled.

 

“Even at this very moment, Luke is gradually getting closer to Aina.”

 

***

 

Crash-! Bang!

 

A sword wrapped in golden aura aimed for Luke.

 

Luke’s silver aura clashed with Aina’s aura.

 

‘He’s getting faster.’

 

Aina’s eyes wavered as she watched Luke begin to respond to her attacks.

 

‘Even at this moment, he’s getting stronger.’

 

Aina gritted her teeth.

 

This final exam was the worst for Aina.

 

She faced Juwen from the very first match.

 

Though she thought it would naturally be an easy victory, Aina barely won.

 

No, she couldn’t feel like she had won at all.

 

The thought that she could never gain Leo’s recognition like this kept attacking her, and her confusion only deepened during the final exams.

 

She kept thinking that Juwen, Havedon, and Shasha, whom she had considered a step below her, might surpass her and leave her far behind.

 

In the midst of this, Aina also came to understand why she had avoided and shunned Luke since enrollment.

 

‘I was afraid of Luke Elda.’

 

The day when she wasn’t recognized by Leo Flobe but Luke was.

 

Aina realized Luke’s enormous potential.

 

She had instinctively known then that he would catch up to her in the near future.

 

And now Luke was trying to stand beside her.

 

At this fact, Aina felt an indescribable emotion.

 

In Aina’s heart, where nothing but revenge had existed, one emotion arose.

 

‘I don’t want to lose.’

 

She didn’t know why this feeling was raising its head.

 

But Aina didn’t want to lose to Luke right now.

 

Flash-!

 

Golden light flickered in Aina’s eyes.

 

Roar-!

 

Golden aura surging from Aina’s body shot up to the sky like a pillar.

 

The surging aura gathered at her sword tip.

 

-Ohhh! This is!

 

Runba, who was commentating, shouted in an excited voice.

 

Mel, who was commentating alongside him, muttered.

 

-It’s the Sword Saint’s sword.

 

A great hero who carried an era and dominated the times.

 

A strike with the meaning of justice, symbolizing a righteous and noble knight who raised his sword for what was right.

 

“Justitia.”

 

Aina faced Luke with the maximum attack she could muster.

 

‘Please stop chasing me!’

 

Gritting her teeth and crying out inwardly as if squeezing it out, she swung her sword.

 

Watching the golden sword flying toward him, Luke felt goosebumps rise all over his body.

 

‘Amazing.’

 

Lumern was full of incredible people.

 

Amazing people who would be insufficient to chase after endlessly.

 

‘Can I chase after such people?’

 

His heart pounds.

 

His mind trembles.

 

‘Can I chase after them… and stand on the same stage?’

 

He doesn’t know.

 

But there’s one thing he learned while being Leo’s mentee.

 

‘Countless times despairing and hitting limits. Countless times frustrated and hanging my head.’

 

Silver light surged from Luke’s body.

 

‘If I don’t give up, overcome the limits, and raise my head.’

 

Silver light flickered in his eyes.

 

‘There was a better me!’

 

Mana amplifies and magic power boils.

 

Luke cast his unique magic.

 

‘Transcendence!’

 

In an instant.

 

Magic that pushes him one step beyond his limits to the realm he wants to reach.

 

With the power of that magic, Luke.

 

“Haaaaaaah!”

 

Flash-!

 

In an instant, succeeded in standing in the same place as Aina.

 

The silver sword strike cut the golden sword in two.

 

Rumble-!

 

The area around Luke, who had received Aina’s attack, was devastated.

 

Dust clouds rose thickly.

 

In the midst of it, Luke gritted his teeth.

 

“Ugh?!”

 

As the price for wielding enormous power that wasn’t permitted, his arm screamed in pain.

 

‘Not yet! I can still do more!’

 

But he forcibly endured the pain.

 

‘If it’s the Aina I know, she won’t fall from just this. She’ll definitely come once more!’

 

The moment Luke prepared for Aina’s attack.

 

Beyond the dust cloud, he could see Aina letting her sword droop.

 

“It seems you’ve won, Luke Elda.”

 

Instantly, Luke made a dazed expression.

 

“That strike just now was an attack where I gave my all. Since it was blocked, I’ve lost.”

 

Luke’s eyes trembled as he watched Aina speak in a powerless voice.

 

“Why… Why are you giving up?”

 

“What?”

 

“You can still fight more.”

 

Luke made an expression of incomprehension.

 

“As I said, I’m at my limit.”

 

“You still have strength left to swing your sword. So why do you say you’re at your limit?”

 

Luke frowned.

 

Seeing Luke like that, Aina spoke in a self-deprecating voice.

 

“The result is obvious anyway. Someone like me isn’t worth struggling desperately to beat.”

 

At Aina’s words, filled with despair and a broken heart, Luke said.

 

“Someone like Aina-san?”

 

Luke gritted his teeth.

 

Leo had told Luke to become the grade representative.

 

Would there be any value in becoming grade representative this way?

 

‘There wouldn’t be.’

 

Luke clenched his fist tightly.

 

“Aina-san is an amazing person. That’s why Juwen is doing his best to challenge you to beat you.”

 

“I’m not as amazing a person as you think I am.”

 

Even so, Aina smiled with self-deprecation.

 

“And I’m already at my limit. So you winning…”

 

“Then surpass your limits! What do you think of the people who gritted their teeth and chased after you as their goal!”

 

At Luke’s emotional outburst, Aina flinched.

 

“They want to chase after you because you’re amazing! They want to beat you because you’re amazing! If you say things like that, what becomes of all my past days of effort with you as my goal! If you’re going to give up so easily, compensate me for my hardships first before giving up!”

 

Seeing Aina blaming herself, Luke’s eyes went wild as he shouted “Wah-!”

 

Seeing Luke like that, Aina made a frightened expression.

 

“H-how should I compensate you…”

 

“There’s no way you could compensate me!”

 

‘S-scary.’

 

Seeing Luke’s appearance with his eyes gone wild as his resentment over past hardships exploded because of Aina, Aina unconsciously stepped backward.

 

The dust settled.

 

Seeing Aina like that, Luke said.

 

“If you’re going to run away, at least do your best against me first before running.”

 

Luke gripped his sword properly.

 

Seeing Luke like that, Aina looked down at her own sword.

 

‘Grandfather, didn’t you ever want to run away?’

 

‘Many times.’

 

Chuckling, Sword Saint Kalian patted his great-granddaughter’s head.

 

‘But you overcame them all, right? Because you’re the Sword Saint, Grandfather.’

 

‘No. I ran away countless times.’

 

Kalian, who mercilessly shattered his great-granddaughter’s innocence, only smiled slyly while stroking his beard.

 

With a shocked expression, Aina looked up at Kalian like that.

 

‘But’

 

Kalian smiled gently.

 

‘I didn’t just run away. I did my absolute best and challenged my limits countless times. If it still didn’t work, then I ran away.’

 

Kalian took his great-granddaughter’s hand and said.

 

‘Aina. After doing your best, you can run away as much as you want. Then you can challenge again next time.’

 

Remembering the old days, Aina gripped her sword.

 

‘Grandfather.’

 

***

 

‘The atmosphere has changed.’

 

Leo, who was watching the two people’s sparring match, lit up his eyes.

 

‘A little… you’ve come to have eyes befitting a Hero Candidate, yes.’

 

Leo, who was smirking while looking at Aina’s appearance, had his expression disappear for a moment then return.

 

Leo stood up from his seat.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

Selia made a puzzled expression.

 

Toward Selia like that, Leo smiled and said.

 

“I’ll be back in a moment.”

 

Leaving those words, he departed from the spectator stands.

 

He felt a familiar presence not far away.

 

Leo’s red eyes flashed.

 

Such a faint power.

 

But Leo clearly remembered the owner of this power.

 

‘Overlord King.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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