Sky Battle (3)

Khaled's expression changed. 

He had already commanded that Predator Raven to man the perimeter, but it hadn't listened. 

'No, it's not that it wasn't listening, something's making it not listen… This boy!'

Leonel had realized long ago that Khaled's commands could be interrupted. 

For Khaled to have been sent to command this aerial assault, it was likely that other than gaining City Lord White's trust, it was also due to his ability. By virtue of this, it was easy to extrapolate that Khaled had likely been the one in command of the predator birds from the very beginning. 

After Leonel realized this, he already had all the information he needed. The fact that his horn could disrupt Khaled's control, even for a moment, meant that it was very much possible for external sources to do so. 

So, the simple question was… what about pain?

This much was easily confirmed. Though it was just for a moment, the Predator Raven completely disregarded Khaled's commands, almost completely disrupting the formation with its erratic flight in those moments just after Leonel pierced its eye. 

Though Khaled managed to regain control of the Predator Raven, there was one thing he didn't notice. Or, rather, two things packaged into one. 

The first thing was that Leonel had hidden a secondary damage spell within in arrow. And, the second thing was that Leonel had hidden a smaller version of the Force Arts drawn onto his horn as well. 

The instant he realized that his hypothesis was correct, he activated the secondary damage spell, causing the Raven a surge of pain once again. And, right afterward, he activated the beast taming Force Arts to disrupt Khaled's second attempts at controlling the Raven. 

When Leonel's [Light Refraction] spell was influenced, he realized a few things. 

For one, the influence of a single Raven's pupils were exceptionally weak on him. If it wasn't for 500 disrupting his spell at once, it would have never distorted in the first place.

And second, when he used his surfboard to block the view of Khaled while he pulled out the dictionary, he realized that the effect the Ravens had on him were much weaker in that instant. That obviously meant that their abilities weren't area of effect, but rather truly reliant on their sight. At the very least, they had to have a line of sight to the Force Art they wanted to disrupt. 

This made Leonel realized his second very important thing… These damned birds couldn't disrupt a Force Art that had already been shielded and definitely couldn't disrupt one too small for them to lock eyes on. 

At this point, though Khaled was startled, he still didn't understand what Leonel's plan was. He could tell that something was interrupting his control and that this thing was most definitely the arrow still lodged in the Raven's eye. But… what was the purpose?

There were over 500 Jagged Beak Predator Ravens, all of which had long since surrounded Leonel and were waiting to taste his blood. What good was there to mess with just a single one?

But, Khaled's expression changed again when Leonel abruptly changed directions to, seemingly by coincidence, cross paths with the erratically flying bird. 

With a flip of his palm, Leonel's bow disappeared, only to be replaced by a pitch-black spear. 

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

'Chain Domain.'

The Predator Raven was suddenly tightly bound in the sky, its wings pinned to body and its claws pressed flush against itself. 

Veins popped out across Leonel's forehead, but he didn't retreat. 

His back flexed as the Predator Raven hung in the air beneath his might. He could see its enraged eyes trying to bore into his soul. One was a blood red while the other dripped with crimson, its precious life dripping to the ground far beneath them. 

However, when it saw Leonel's cold, calculating eyes looking back toward it, the bird felt fear for the first time in maybe its life. It suddenly stopped struggling, its blood running cold. 

In a lot of ways, beasts were just more of what humans were innately but tried to hide. Their sense of strict hierarchy was even more damning, even more rigorous, even more demanding. 

When facing a being superior to you, beasts lowered their heads…

Even if it meant certain death. 

Leonel's spear shot into the Predator Raven's eye, an undeniable callousness in his gaze as he felt his blade run deep into its skull and through its brain. 

Spear Force burst out, mincing the insides of the Predator Raven in an instant. But, it was what happened next that made Khaled's heart truly seize. 

Leonel pulled out his spear, blood spraying through the air as he thrust forth once more. But this time, his target wasn't the dead Raven but rather the crossbow machine strapped to its back. 

The strap was severed in a single strike, separating out from the Predator Raven's. 

Leonel's Chain Domain released the beast but latched onto the crossbow, causing it float before him in menacing fashion. 

Just like that, in what felt like the blink of an eye, the entire situation had shifted. 

All around, there were hundreds of Predator Ravens, each outfitted with a crossbow, but not a single one with the capability of firing one. 

And then there was Leonel. He was just one man, but he had suddenly become the center of the battlefield. 

His gaze still cool, suffused with indifference, he used his Chain Domain to load the first bolt, his eyes locking onto Khaled once more. 

A wave of danger seized the heart of the White Knight. Before, he felt his movements were clever. Clearing out the Predator Ravens to surround and suffocate Leonel seemed to have been the perfect move at the time. But now, he felt as though he had cosigned his own death. 

The irony of it was that as a commander, he didn't even have a crossbow of his own. 

The indifference in Leonel's gaze was almost beginning to drive Khaled mad. There was no sense of achievement or victory or even complacency or happiness in his eyes. It was as though what hovered before him wasn't a human, but rather a series of data points to be callously observed. 

And then… Leonel released the bolt. 

SHUUUUU! BANG!

The sound barrier shattered in an instant. It happened so quickly that by the time it was registered, Khaled was already trying to dodge out of the way. 

But, unfortunately for the White Knight, Leonel's target was never him. 

KWWAAAA—

It was a devastating sight. The cry of the Raven hardly sounded before its head imploded into fleshly bits of crimson gore. The bolt was so powerful that it continued without losing momentum, piercing through the heart of another Raven several hundred meters behind the first and causing it to implode as well.

White Knight Diore found himself falling through the skies, a half-stunned expression on his face. 

He lost? 

Leonel looked on from up above, his gaze locking onto Khaled's falling figure as his Chain Domain adjusted the aim of the crossbow toward the White Knight. 

Today, he would send a resounding message to the people of Terrain.