Chapter 541

Leo kicked off the ground.

He closed the distance with Velkia at incredible speed.

His movement seemed to transcend the very concept of speed.

Clang—!

At that moment, something stopped Leo's sword.

Leo's eyes narrowed.

Before he knew it, a sword had appeared in Velkia's hand.

Screeeech—!

Sparks flew between the blades.

At that moment, Leo's pupils dilated.

'Hyper Sense.'

Leo instantly entered the realm of Hyper Sense.

At the same time, he activated the Aura throughout his entire body.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang—!

Ten sparks flared in a split second as Leo and Velkia deflected each other's blades.

Leo's eyes narrowed further.

Ten exchanges had taken place in a single heartbeat.

Thud—!

The moment Leo's feet touched the ground, he charged at Velkia again.

He leveled his sword and thrust.

Without so much as glancing at Leo, Velkia planted one foot and spun counterclockwise.

Her blade flew straight toward Leo's neck.

Thud—!

In that instant, Leo pressed his palm against the flat of Velkia's blade.

The sword did not budge, as though he were pushing against a massive boulder.

However, Leo was not flustered.

He had never intended to deflect the blade in the first place.

Whoosh—!

Leo's body soared upward.

Using the force behind Velkia's swing, he propelled himself into the air and avoided the blade.

Slice—!

Velkia twisted her wrist, attempting to slice open Leo's palm.

Leo pushed off her sword to create distance.

Flash—!

Velkia did not miss the opening and immediately closed the distance.

Shriek—!

Her blade tore through the air.

'I can't feel anything.'

He felt nothing from the swinging sword.

No passion. No rage.

Not even bloodlust.

It was only natural.

The current Velkia had lost her reason.

All that remained were the instincts of an Undead seeking to drag the living into death.

Naturally, there was no bloodlust to sense.

Leo shifted his grip toward the end of the hilt.

His index finger and thumb nearly touched the blade, lengthening the portion of the hilt below his hand.

Step—!

Leo charged straight at Velkia as she entered his immediate range.

Clang! Clang!

Their swords crossed relentlessly, filling the air with sharp metallic ringing.

Screeeech—!

The blades ground against each other.

Sword energy scattered through the air.

Its fragments devastated the surrounding area.

Slash—! Slash—!

Fragments of sword energy cut into Leo's body.

Blood seeped from wounds across his body, but Leo paid them no mind.

Then—

Leo loosened his grip and relaxed his palm.

The sword slid across his palm.

Leo's reach lengthened by the smallest fraction.

It was a perilous move.

In the midst of such a relentless exchange, a single mistake could allow the opponent's blade to knock the sword from his hand. Yet Leo remained composed.

That tiny but decisive increase in reach disrupted Velkia's sense of distance.

The concept was simple.

But it was an irregular maneuver that left no room for error.

Failure meant a fatal wound, but its effect was equally decisive.

Slice—!

Leo's sword severed the wrist of Velkia's sword hand.

Normally, that would have decided the match.

Velkia, however, did not hesitate and closed the distance even further.

Thump—!

With her remaining hand, she struck the back of Leo's sword hand.

Leo blocked the attack with his armor.

Even so, he felt the bones in his left hand, which held the sword, being crushed.

For an ordinary swordsman, it would have been a fatal injury.

But Leo did not even blink as he drove his fist into the abdomen of the advancing Velkia.

Thud—!

An ominous sound rang out as Velkia was sent flying.

Even as she flew, Velkia snatched her severed hand out of the air and kicked Leo's arm.

Crack—!

The bone in Leo's right arm snapped, leaving it dangling.

Crash! Boom—!

Velkia tore through several buildings before finally coming to a stop.

Eiran and Chen Xia stared wide-eyed at the exchange unfolding before them.

“They're in a different league.”

Lunia's voice trembled.

She was not a knight.

Even so, she could tell just how absurd the battle before her was.

In Lunia's eyes, the two truly stood on another level.

“It's more than that.”

Eiran swallowed hard.

“They're in an entirely different dimension.”

“Yes, that's right.”

Chen Xia continued where Eiran left off.

Her fists were clenched tight.

“They live in different worlds.”

'Because this is a battle between those who were forced to live through that era.'

She understood why Leo had said those words.

Their experience was different.

It had to be.

'The era they lived in was different. So were the battlefields they endured and the number of times they risked their lives.'

There were plenty of strong people in the world.

But a battlefield was a place filled with endless variables.

In a sense, it was like a living creature, constantly changing as it devoured people's lives.

Strength did not guarantee survival on a battlefield.

Conversely, weakness did not necessarily mean death.

However, those who transcended the battlefield were invariably strong.

'That is an absolute, immutable truth.'

That was why Chen Xia had believed she could one day stand beside Leo.

He had simply seemed far ahead, at a distance that felt impossible to close.

But...

'That is a wall.'

Chen Xia bit her lip.

Merely experiencing battlefields and risking one's life was not enough to reach him.

She realized she could only draw close to him by surmounting that wall.

Chen Xia and Eiran had seen Leo wield his sword many times before.

Each time, they had marveled at his technique.

Even the simplest swing concealed an immense depth of calculation.

But watching Leo's sword today made them realize that was not all there was to it.

'It's because his opponent is Velkia.'

This was different from his spar with Arron.

Back then, neither Leo nor Arron had been trying to kill the other.

Now, however, every stroke carried Leo's true intent.

This was the swordsmanship of those who had been forced to live through that era—the swordsmanship they used to take each other's lives.

'This isn't merely a matter of variables or irregularities.'

Had Arron not said that he saw the future through Hyper Sense during battle?

To Eiran and Chen Xia, Leo appeared to be doing the same.

By manipulating variables and irregularities, he forced his opponent to act exactly as he intended.

In the span of a split second, it was no different from knowing what would happen next.

The difference was that Arron's foresight was an innate ability brought to fruition through extreme training.

Leo had recreated a gift he did not possess through effort alone.

'I understand why Leo-nim said he could never defeat Arron.'

Arron could simply use Hyper Sense to see the future and evade Leo's schemes.

Leo's imitation would be powerless before Arron's true foresight.

But so what?

Eiran and Chen Xia were even more awestruck by Leo's ability to approach the realm of an innate gift through effort alone.

And there was one more person.

Velkia, too, had stepped into the same realm as Leo.

“But is that even possible?”

“...It's already beyond common sense.”

“What do you mean?”

Chen Xia answered Lunia's question.

“Velkia-nim's sense of self has collapsed.”

“I know.”

“That means only the instincts of an Undead remain.”

“Right. She's rampaging.”

“Exactly. Yet even in that state, she isn't attacking haphazardly. She's wielding swordsmanship comparable to Leo-nim's.”

It was exactly as she said.

A rampaging Undead would normally destroy its surroundings without thought.

If it were a Mage, it would devastate the area with Mana Bullets that did not even resemble proper Magic.

A Hero of Velkia's caliber could erase several countries from the map single-handedly.

Yet Velkia was currently wielding sophisticated swordsmanship as though she still possessed a will.

She was even fighting Leo on equal terms.

This was Lunia's first time seeing anything like it.

Until now, Leo had defeated opponents with more Mana than himself through 'technique and experience.'

Yet Velkia, bereft of reason, was displaying swordsmanship on par with Leo's.

That meant this way of fighting had been ingrained into Velkia's instincts.

“Is that... even possible?”

“It must be possible. She's fighting like that right before our eyes.”

Chen Xia clenched her fists.

She could not even fathom how thoroughly one would have to hone oneself to reach that level.

It was a realm bordering on that of a Divine Artifact.

'I thought I'd gotten a little closer.'

She felt foolish for ever entertaining such a thought.

But...

'I won't give up.'

Chen Xia stared intently at Leo's back.

She was not the only one.

Lunia and Eiran also watched the battle between the two Heroes who had lived through the Era of Calamity.

All three dreamed of the day they could support that steadfast, lonely back.

“What's the situation right now?”

“...If Velkia-nim weren't an Undead, Leo-nim would have a slight advantage in this exchange. But as she is now...”

“Ugh...!”

Lunia bit her lip hard.

“Is there nothing we can do to help?”

“For now...”

Just as frustration clouded Eiran's expression, Chen Xia spoke.

“It seems... we have intruders.”

“What?”

Lunia and Eiran's eyes widened at Chen Xia's words.

They looked in the direction of her gaze.

She was staring at the sky.

Heavily armed knights and Mages were descending from above.

Lunia's face contorted at the sight of them.

“The Templars of Eldon.”

After witnessing the darkness beneath Eldon, Lunia found them loathsome.

And she was not alone.

Disgust naturally surfaced on Eiran's and Chen Xia's faces as well.

As Chen Xia stared coldly at the sky—

Vrooom—!

Vihar's dagger once again resonated from within her robes.

Startled, Chen Xia gripped the dagger.

Then—

—Master... Velkia...

Bewilderment spread across Chen Xia's face when she heard the voice coming through the blade.

'This voice... could it be...?'

“Ancestor?”

—Do not call me Ancestor.

The voice answered heavily.

—For I am not worthy of such a title.

===

Leo tightened his grip on his sword.

Immense pain surged through him.

'The bones are definitely crushed.'

Leo glanced down at his sword hand, then at his other arm.

The pain there was no less intense than the pain in the back of his left hand.

His right arm dangled like a broken branch.

'This one is definitely broken too.'

Leo roused his Aura.

Crack! Snap! Crunch—!

Muscles reinforced by Aura forcibly clamped around the broken bones.

Healing Magic was not his specialty, but given enough time, he could knit the bones back together to some extent.

But Leo did not do so.

Velkia would pounce during the brief moment it took him to use Magic.

Moreover, the unnatural sensation of his bones knitting together would interfere with his fighting.

Of course, using Aura to forcibly hold the bones in place also brought agonizing pain.

But pain was not something that hindered Leo's concentration.

If anything, it was deeply familiar.

Leo's path had been far too harsh for pain to hinder his movements.

Injuries were almost like old friends.

Amid it all, a laugh escaped him.

Not because he welcomed the pain.

It was because this razor-sharp battle, which allowed no lapse in concentration, made Leo's heart race.

“You've become incredible.”

It was a sentiment ill-suited to the current situation.

But seeing how far his disciple had developed her skills filled him with joy.

'To anyone else, I'd look like a complete madman.'

But that did not matter.

After all, no one could have survived that era without being at least a little mad.

“I wanted to stand on the same battlefield as you once you'd become this strong, Velkia.”

He conveyed words that could no longer reach her.

“I wanted to stand on the same battlefield as Vihar too—as a Hero, not merely a Shadow.”

Giving voice to a wish that could no longer be fulfilled, Leo leveled his sword.

“This isn't the end, is it?”

Rumble—!

As if responding to Leo's words, Aura and Magic Power began pouring from Velkia's body. Her severed wrist had already been reattached.

Seeing that, Leo spoke.

“I'll take it all on.”

Just as Leo was about to manifest his Magic Power—

“My, my.”

A voice laced with a sigh reached them.

“To think a great figure of the Elves has become a filthy Undead.”

Leo turned his head.

An Elven youth dressed in scholar's robes was walking toward them.

“What a tragedy.”

The Elf, Ulein, wore a bitter expression as he addressed Leo without sparing Velkia a glance.

“I wanted to meet you, Leo Plov. My name is Ulein. I am this city's Council Chair—”

Thud—!

In an instant, Leo's sword flew toward Ulein's head.

After piercing through the barrier, the sword stopped mere inches from Ulein's nose.

Leo had thrown it.

With an expressionless face, he spoke.

“Say that again. Who did you call filthy?”

Ulein pointed at Velkia with a troubled smile.

“I said this person is filthy.”

Bleak bloodlust settled in Leo's eyes.

***