Chapter 770: Scythe

Chapter 770: Scythe

The moment Leo lifted his head, a person was already standing beside him.

The sickle-like blade was raised high, ready to strike.

Shit! Leo cursed internally, trying to jump away and dodge. But it was already too late. The man was way too fast.

Clang!

A sharp metallic clang echoed as Lily appeared and intercepted the downward strike. However, the force behind the blow pushed her back several feet.

Still, the couple had gained enough time to put some distance between them as they watched the lone man, staring at them with a bored expression. Behind him, the trees that had been cut earlier remained standing for a moment longer.

Crrriiikkkk-tak-tak.

Every tree in sight fell at once as the man lazily raised his sickle and slashed through the empty air.

Clang!

Leo managed to block the rotating wind blade attack but was thrown backwards by the force behind it.

Thankfully, the Low Yellow(5) Steelcrest sword seemed strong enough to withstand the pressure.

They finally had a moment to properly observe the man. He had a lean, muscular body and tousled charcoal-black hair.

His sharp amber eyes, weathered face, and lightweight outfit, with leather boots featuring gale-green accents, gave him a distinctive look.

Aric looked at Leo and Lily, eyes narrowed.

"..."

He seemed to have something to say but held back, instead pulling out both of his chained sickles and pointing them at the couple.

The next moment, he disappeared.

Leo’s hand instinctively moved, raising his sword to block the strike aimed at his neck.

When Lily charged from the side, Aric simply raised his second sickle to effortlessly block her sword strike, which was similarly aimed at his neck.

The next moment, Leo disappeared.

Aric seemed confused for a moment, but all of a sudden, a sword pierced his chest from behind.

Leo had struck him after teleporting behind him.

Then something surprising happened. Aric’s figure dissolved into green mist as Leo’s danger senses flared. He immediately ducked again, narrowly dodging another strike aimed at his neck.

"Interesting."

Aric finally spoke, but he was forced to jump away when Shyra leapt at him from the shadows.

Seeing Shyra while still mid-jump, he frowned.

"Weak."

Saying that, he flipped in midair and launched himself towards Shyra, propelling himself forward with a sharp gust of wind from his feet.

Slice!

Shyra was still rising toward Aric when the blade split her side.

Sprut!

Blood immediately gushed out, and the next gust of wind sent her flying sideways.

"SHYRA!!" Leo shouted, lunging towards the descending Aric to tackle him.

But just as their weapons were about to clash, Aric flipped once again and slashed at Leo’s arm.

Crip!

To Aric’s surprise, Leo’s forearm split open only about 5 to 6 inches before his blade was forced to stop against Leo’s incredibly tough skin.

Leo seized the opportunity to flip himself and thrust the point of his sword toward Aric’s head.

Aric shifted and took the attack on his shoulder instead, letting the sword sink deep into it. Immediately afterwards, the two created some distance between themselves.

"I can see how you won against the dragons," Aric said with a slight curve to his lips, not bothering with the wound on his shoulder while Leo’s torn forearm was already healing.

In the distance, Niri rushed to heal Shyra—since no forest remained for her to control—while Lily hid in the shadows, waiting for a chance to launch a surprise attack.

Leo immediately realised the man had no healing skills.

Lily appeared behind Aric, but he blocked her attack with his sickle without even batting an eye.

"But... is this the level of prodigies appearing in Velerath after your Emperor has worked so hard?"

Saying that, Aric’s eyes sharpened, while Leo’s pupils contracted.

Because at that moment, a heavy presence suddenly descended from the sky.

[Mist Shroud]!

Leo didn’t think twice before covering an area of almost 2 kilometres in magical mist, boosting his and his allies’ stats by 30% while blocking Aric’s vision.

Through the mist, he saw a green creature no bigger than 3 to 4 meters descending rapidly from the sky and moving towards Niri and Shyra in the distance.

It was a mantis-like creature with a sleek body covered in emerald-green and silver chitin, adorned with glowing pale-green patterns. Its golden compound eyes, slender antennae, and enormous crescent-shaped silver sickle blades gave it a deadly appearance.

With six hooked legs, translucent wings, and dense wind energy circulating around its body, the beast was clearly built for speed.

Its relatively small size only made it more agile.

Gale-Sickle Mantis (High 5-Star) — Noble Bloodline

It descended silently, and the next moment, even through the mist, Leo felt both of his beasts being teleported away after suffering fatal blows.

Aric had already turned to strike Lily, but Leo teleported there to stop him.

"Again?" Aric was once again forced back by Leo’s sudden appearance.

Inside the mist, the mantis’s compound eyes narrowed as its vision cleared. It immediately shot toward the couple.

Leo and Lily raised their blades together, barely managing to block the sickle-shaped natural weapon. Unfortunately, even after blocking, the force behind the attack cut into their bodies and sent them flying.

Lily spat out blood, her internal organs badly damaged, while Leo immediately counterattacked after absorbing most of the impact.

Aric once again noticed the anomaly.

Thang!

The mantis’s sickle and Leo’s blade collided, but Leo didn’t stop there. He charged his fist with [Critical Strike] and slammed it towards the beast’s swollen abdomen.

THAM!

The chitin immediately cracked, sending the beast stumbling backwards.

Skrrreeesshh!

The hit enraged the beast, shooting towards Leo with both blades aimed at his head and neck.

Leo immediately gripped the Heaven’s Gate Medallion to teleport.

"There!"

Aric finally noticed what Leo was trying to do and didn’t hesitate for even a second before slashing at him.

Shing!

An extremely sharp, pressurised wind blade shot forward.

"Arrgh!!"

Leo’s attention wavered, and the teleportation failed.

Even through his incredibly tough skin, his hand was almost severed. The next moment, the remaining pressure from the wind blade cleanly cleaved through the top of the mound high above—the wind blade had travelled that much in a split second, cutting the mound diagonally—sending the rock sliding away as if a landslide had occurred.

Aric had already stopped his mantis from delivering the final blow because—

"You are an anomaly. Even if lower humans like you are insignificant, that doesn’t mean you’re not a nuisance."

Aric had noticed that Leo’s physical capabilities were far beyond what his level suggested. If not for his inexperience and inferior techniques, Leo might have fought him evenly.

At that moment, Aric’s sickle began to glow with an eerie light.

Leo’s heart skipped a beat when he felt the energy radiating from it.

Divine Essence!

How can a human possess Divine Essence?

Leo’s mind went into a frenzy because, as far as he knew, humans didn’t have gods from whom they could obtain divine energy.

Is he some god-beast’s chosen one like me? Leo wondered.

Although he’d ignored Aric’s earlier remarks during the fight, he couldn’t help but remember them now.

What had he meant by ’appearing in Velerath,’ ’your Emperor,’ and ’lower humans’?

Wasn’t he a human himself?

Ding!

The system reacted instantly.

---

*Image of Aric*

*Image of Gale-Sickle Mantis*