W

C1234 BANG!

BANG!

A pillar of smoke rose in the air, the ground combusting as though an explosive had been hidden within. But, just as quickly as Myghell's strike landed, the mighty roar of a bear resounded.

The smoke and dust plumes were forcefully disrupted, a concentrated beam of light jetting outward like a laser, relentlessly piercing through the skies as though it might split anything in its path in two.

In that moment, a ten meter tall bear rose up on its hind legs. Beneath the dispersed smoke, its aura towered and its strength pulsed in all directions not much unlike its roar. Even the ground itself seem to want to submit.

The bear was both illusory and not, its body covered from head to toe in resplendent golden fur and its eyes shimmering like stars that held the depth of the universe. However, while its body itself seemed ethereal and unreal, on top of it was an armor of dense grey, so heavy that what remained of the stone beneath the bear cracked and shattered further.

Without hesitation, the bear charged after the beam of light, following after it with a tremendous momentum. Leonel trailed its back, much of his figure hidden behind the enormous beast construct but his gaze had become cold and focused, his fiendish grin giving way to a calculating light.

Myghell, of course, recognized the bear construct. But, he had never seen it appear with armor. In just a moment, he could tell that Leonel had fused the Luxnix Force Art system with another. Even after realizing this though, he didn't spare any thought toward being impressed nor did his expression fluctuate.

His palm flipped over, a sword as light as a feather and as thin as a finger appearing in his hand.

The moment it did, his whole demeanor seemed to change. His indifferent expression, unmoved by the world even if the moon fell from the skies, gained a bit of haughtiness between his brows. An arrogance that had been buried deep within his bones blossomed like a blooming flower, his first hint of an expression shining forth.

The individuals of the Luxnix watched on with widened eyes. They hadn't seen Myghell use his sword against a member of his generation since he was 10 years old. No, that wasn't accurate. Those like Elody and Syllar were technically a part of Leonel's mother's generation. The truth was that Myghell had never used his sword against a member of his generation and he hadn't used it against the generation plus one his senior since he was a child!

Myghell's sword pierced forward. It seemed to carry no momentum with it, no forcefulness or power. In fact, it could only be said to be beautiful and elegant, the kind of strike that looked pretty in a practice book and could be expounded upon in a painting, but lacked the foundation of comprehension and strength it should have had…

Or so it seemed.

The beam of light separated into two beneath Myghell's sword as though it was nothing more than a dying flames final twinkle. It split past his shoulders, continuing toward the barriers in the distance where it seemed to have lost all of its momentum. And yet…

BANG!

The barriers shuddered and threatened to collapse. The power behind it was so great that the arena itself shook and quaked, the rustling of the pillars that held it up making a few cowards feel as though they should prepare to run. However, for everyone else, they couldn't seem to take their eyes off of what they were seeing for even a moment.

The elegant stroke of Myghell's sword didn't lose momentum in the slightest. He only took a single step forward, and yet he seemed to appear dozens of meters away in the next instant.

The final roar of the bear construct resounded and it even sounded somewhat sad, its body collapsing into two pieces before vanishing into sparkling motes of light.

Leonel, who had been following very closely behind, narrowed his gaze. He had indeed fused the Luxnix Force Arts with another. He had used Fourth Dimensional Star Core, which he could produce with ease thanks to his Metal Body, and then strengthened it with Camelot's magic system to form a new defensive Mage Art. And yet it was split in just a single strike.

Even with the coldness of his gaze now, a flicker of rouge couldn't help but manifest as his heart beat grew steadier and deeper. In that moment, his fiendish grin almost returned.

In a blink, Myghell and Leonel appeared before one another. Just when it seemed that Leonel would suffer the same fate as the beam of light and the bear construct before him, his aura bloomed, the temperature plummeting as a spear of black ice appeared in his hands.

Leonel didn't hold back for even a moment, his Level 2 Spear Force bursting forth and a blinding golden spear splitting the crown on his forehead in two.

Orinik's expression changed wildly when he saw this. 'A seventh heir?!'

The shock even overshadowed the fact Leonel had had Level 2 Spear Force from the very beginning.

BANG!

Spear and sword met. A wild crackling of ice and a plummeting temperature appearing to one side, and on the other a blazing golden-white light shimmering with falling gems.

The two shot backward beneath their opponent's strength, but just as quickly as their feet landed, they sprung forward with an even faster pace.

Spear and sword left afterimages in the air, the collision of blades, light, ice and Force feeling like a firework ceremony of untouchable proportions.

Myghell's Level 2 Sword Force vibrated wildly. His speed touched another level as he swapped between techniques of the Luxnix as though he was doing nothing more than breathing. He didn't even seem to have trouble interrupting his technique midway to switch to another, countering Leonel's spear play at every corner.

Leonel's gaze almost seemed to rage with a ring of gold and crimson, the Spear Domain Lineage Factor's mark on his forehead growing in brightness with each passing moment.

Myghell retrieved his sword, the arrogance between his brows only growing.

"Divide."

His voice was layered and almost seemed like a fusion of a God and Devil, commanding the world to yield beneath its call.

Leonel didn't take a single step back, the raging violet aura around him growing in size to the point a miniature humanoid figure appeared before his head.

"Dragon's Might."

BANG!

To be continued