Those words that Leonel had spoken seemed to echo in their minds again. It had been too long since he had killed anyone of note, so they had forgotten... But at this moment they were reminded once again.
As many as he came across is as many as he would kill.
He had spoken those words boldly and beneath the disdain of many. But weeks later, the crowd seemed to have grown stunned to the point of being numbed. He had really done it, even when Amery, the treasure of the Suiard family stood before him, he hadn't hesitated to strike to kill for even a single moment...
At this moment, the weight of what Leonel's actions really meant were slowly sinking in. However, it was right then that the situation suddenly changed.
Amery, who should have been on the final legs of life, suddenly reached up and grabbed Leonel's spear.
Leonel's gaze narrowed, but he only watched as Amery pulled himself from the tip of his spear, pulling back until the last of the blade was out and blood fell down his face. It was an eerie sight, one that made it look as though countless rivers of blood were dripping down the peaks and crevices of the Sword Deity.
Leonel felt an unprecedented sense of danger that didn't allow him to move. It wasn't that he couldn't move, but he didn't want to move recklessly, feeling that he had been locked onto by something. A single incorrect movement at the wrong time could take his life.
When he had learned that Amery was the fiancé of a half Spiritual Race woman, he had decided to use this opportunity to attack the latter's forehead. He thought of the possibility that Amery might have also learned a method to separate his soul from his body, allowing him to survive worse wounds than most could imagine.
If that was the case, then Amery's most vulnerable point should definitely be his Ethereal Glabella, so Leonel had struck to shatter it.
The wound that was left behind was incomparably smooth and it looked like it had caused minimal damage, but that was only because of Leonel's exquisite control. The reality was that the entire inside of Amery's skull should be nothing but mush at this moment.
Amery shouldn't even be able to think, let alone glare at him with battle intent and even move.
Leonel's gaze was sharp as he took a glance into Amery's forehead through the small slit that he had created. But as he had expected, there was no Ethereal Glabella. Even though he had expected this after Amery's unexpected survival, seeing it still left him in some shock.
Amery's Gaia Force surged and he trembled just once before a large amount of Life Force from the ground below and Water Force in the air began to fuel him, quickly healing the wounds on his forehead until it was completely smooth.
Even so, it did nothing to change the blood that had already streaked down his face. With his horns and his demonic presence, it truly made him seem to be a devil incarnate.
Amery took a breath and exhaled. "Indeed, only in a battle of life and death can a person breakthrough. This must be how you improved so quickly. After these Heir Wars are finished, I will leave the Human Domain. I would be ten times more powerful than I am now if I didn't have the protection of the Suiard family."
The hand that Amery had used to grab Leonel's spear trembled once again and his sword surged into it, slapping into his palm with a satisfying echo. With a tremble, his aura changed entirely.
The dark and light skies above vanished. As though the atmosphere had been ripped away, for as far as the eye could see, only a vastness of twinkling light could be seen. It felt as though one was standing in an observatory, standing in the middle of a dome of starry lights that grasped the soul.
Stars streaked across this canopy, howling with an intent of the sword. From time to time, these streaking stars would flash again, each time exhibiting another facet of a sword's beauty. It felt vast and endless.
Leonel was certain. Amery's Universal Force had broken through, leaving behind the Natural Light Realm to enter the Cosmos Realm.
It was well known that the Universal Forces were the only method through which those of lower Dimensions could battle those above them. Of course, the likes of Leonel and Aina had proven this to be untrue as overwhelming talent and comprehension of Force Manipulation could do the same.
The Four Seasons Realm allowed those of the Fourth Dimension to battle those of the Fifth... The Natural Light Realm allowed those of the Sixth Dimension to battle those of the Seventh...
And the Cosmos Realm allowed those of the Seventh Dimension to battle those of the Eighth!
Suddenly, the gap between Leonel and Amery had become insurmountable. It was as exaggerated as the difference of night and day that had just been displayed.
Even so, Leonel suddenly chuckled. His unmoving body suddenly relaxed.
"So is that what it was? Interesting."
SHUU! SHUU!
Leonel swiped his spear across the air twice in quick succession, leaving behind a howling and sharp wind.
With a flicker, his armor shone and the silver-gold lights took a more prominent role. At that moment, just a single clone was formed, splitting off from Leonel's body.
Amery's gaze suddenly narrowed. He actually couldn't tell even after a second glance which was the clone and which of them was real. What made it even more difficult to accept was the fact that the "clone", or at least the one that wasn't holding a spear currently, flipped his palm to reveal a bow he recognized all too well.
The White Lion Bow.
The body of the clone trembled, a heart-shuddering aura taking shape as he vanished, appearing high in the skies and pulling back his bowstring.
"That's fine. Since one of me isn't enough, two will be."
Leonel's stance shifted, his back leg gliding back in an elegant arc.
The Forces of the world fell into silence.
"I'll give you some advice," Leonel said lightly. "You have exactly 333 exchanges to kill me."
Leonel's clone's bowstring reached a full moon.
Amery's heart skipped a beat, a shocking pressure suddenly descending and causing his gaze to narrow. He couldn't believe that this sort of pressure was coming from Leonel. Could it be that even until this point, Leonel was still holding back? He found it difficult to believe.
The Forces around Leonel began to shimmer with a soft light, small and delicate lines of wavy fog emitting from his body.
The arc that his back foot had drawn took form, shaping the first line in a mysterious Force Art.
At the same time, the same thing occurred to his clone high in the skies.
"A second piece of advice," Leonel grinned. "You had better kill the both of us within that time frame."
Leonel's spear shuddered and he suddenly moved.
All the world could seem to focus on was the fluttering blade of his spear.
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