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C1598 Helpless

In the blink of an eye, a complex Force Art in the form of a shield appeared before Leonel. His Force surged and it just as quickly took form.

To his back, two dark blue Stars appeared, their presence causing the space in the surroundings to tremble.

The Force of these Void Star Force Stars fueled the Force Art Leonel had manifested from within his Dream World, giving it a strength that was several tens of times more powerful than if he used a normal Water Force.

BOOM!

The shockwave sent Leonel flying back even faster than he had originally, but his eyes burned like two bright lights.

The moment his Void Star Force Stars had appeared, the heaviness of Thaela's mercury-like Water Force didn't seem so heavy anymore and even the spatial Force spread out into the surroundings began to twist and deform out of her control.

Leonel didn't know much about Void Star Force at all, he only knew that it represented the pinnacle of Water Force just like Scarlet Star Force represented the pinnacle of Fire Force. However, the moment it appeared, he felt more in tune with it now than he ever had before.

Leonel wasn't sure why this was, but if he had to guess, it was likely because of this new feeling his unearthed Dark Force affinity was giving him. Void Star Force was considered to be top three in Dark Forces, so there was potential there for this to be of help to Leonel.

Leonel's position quickly shifted in the air. His right arm was gone and his inner organs were very much injured. He had been forced to use his [Instant Recovery] already just so that he could have enough strength to block, and he wouldn't have another such opportunity any time soon.

However…

Leonel threw out a demon corpse and a palm of his panda construct shattered it apart. A raging blood and fuel flew toward him and into his body, gaining two paths to choose from. Leonel, without hesitation, chose one and swallowed it whole.

'[Instant Recovery].'

Leonel's body flashed and his arm grew back out.

All of this happened in an instant, even as his body was still flying backward. In fact, even his spear, which had been thrust back with him, was still there for him to snatch out and grab.

Leonel's Bronze Runes erupted to life once again as a large number of illusory Force Arts formed in the skies.

Biding his time wasn't working, plotting and scheming wasn't working, he couldn't even find a single opening.

Aina was right, about his approach in battle, that is. He only incrementally showed his strength in battle because it was of benefit to him. Catching enemies off guard and slaughtering them before they could display their full strength had been the method to his victories for a very long time now. But this Thaela… No, it felt like this entire Zone in specific made this incredibly difficult.

These geniuses were on an entirely different level and the methods with which they used their Force was so multi-variable and multi-layered that for Leonel, who didn't have nearly the same amount of flexibility, it was impossible to use his normal methods.

The only way he would have the slightest inkling of a chase was to put everything on the table and use his abilities as freely as he could. Only that way might he stand a small chance.

To Leonel's back, seven Stars erupted with life. Three were a radiant sky blue, two were a murky dark blue, and the final two were a shining beacon of crimson-gold light.

Among them, the two red-gold ones stood out the most, the presence of their Star Runes alone applying even more pressure on Thaela's rippling silver waves. From being able to control a 100 meter radius with ease after her third Emulation Spatial Force Star's appearance, it was forced back down to 10 meters in the blink of an eye.

Leonel immediately gained some room to breathe, but he didn't relax for long.

Three arrows of red-gold formed on his bow at once, shooting like streaking meteors toward Thaela.

Thaela's eyes widened to the point it seemed like they would pop out of their sockets.

She was absolutely certain, she couldn't have been more certain. Just then, in the final moment before her silver waves were forcefully restricted, she had definitely seen it…

Seven Stars?!

A Sixth Star expert should only have Six at most! How did Leonel have seven?! It didn't make any sense!

When Thaela sensed the coming arrows, her expression only became more unsightly.

First Fallen Star Force and now Scarlet Star Force? Not only that, but Scarlet Star Force that was clearly powered by Star Runes?! Her defenses couldn't deal with this, it was foolish to even try to defend.

Thaela swapped with another one of her clones, not understanding what was happening. How could one person control so many powerful Forces?! She had never even met someone with Scarlet Star Force Stars before, such a thing was practically legend!

The human race couldn't possibly form them, only the Spirituals might have one or two appear in a generation, and very rarely, there might be a demon. But such a demon would most definitely be a Chaos Demon and wouldn't appear here!

For Leonel to both have such Stars and even have formed their Star Runes, especially the latter point… There was only one explanation: He had an Innate Node!

Thaela's expression danced between coldness and greed. She knew exactly how powerful Innate Nodes were, intimately. But such an Innate Node was not like others…

'Dammit…'

Thaela found an entire sky of flood dragons rushing toward her, each fueled by Scarlet Star Force.

She was absolutely infuriated. This idiot had no idea how to properly apply his Force and all he knew how to do was ram it ahead into bigger, stronger attacks.

"Idiot. Idiot! IDIOT!"

Thaela wasn't mad that Leonel wasn't strong enough, she was enraged that he was just strong enough to delay her.

A fool like this couldn't possibly defeat her, the gap between them was too large. But when this talent was combined with the annoyance of this fog domain and the fact that Leonel could move about more freely with his Starry Light Domain now that the effectiveness of her own Stars had been limited…

What was supposed to be a quick battle became long and protracted.

Thaela didn't even suffer a single injury, resolving every one of Leonel's attacks and evading the ones that she could not. She was too smart, too well-versed in battle, and her library of techniques and methods of applying Force were far too vast.

She could use just a single Force like Emulation Star Force to evade, to defend, and to attack. And not only that, but she could do so in a myriad of different ways.

She could evade by swapping with her clone or folding space. She could defend with those silvery waves or forming meat shields out of her clones and even had a special domain capable of mitigating Force. As for her methods of attack, they were too numerous to even name.

However, in the face of her skill, Leonel just threw an avalanche of everything he had.

Magic spells covered the skies, he wielded two bows in four hands, shooting as fast as he could, and his spear became nothing more than a defensive tool.

He was pressing just as hard as Thaela. He couldn't afford to lose here, and he definitely couldn't go to fight that demon. He wouldn't be able to leave that one on one hell until the demon was killed, but at least here, there was still a small chance that he could escape.

But the harder he pressed, the more strength Thaela seemed to show and his Force only seemed to dwindle faster.

A helpless flicker of light appeared within Leonel's eyes.

He looked down at Aina who was in deep meditation and realized that he couldn't just leave her here like this.

He turned and began to run.

Thaela gritted her teeth. "Don't think you can run from me!"

In a single blink, Leonel made it to the edge of his Light Domain and he used his Earth Force to bury her underground. Then, in another blink, he appeared before Thaela once again sent out another powerful strike.

BOOM!

The two separated, four of Leonel's panda construct's arms shattering to pieces once again.

Thaela released an infuriated screech, feeling that things were slipping out of her hands. Unfortunately, it was already too late.

The 100 trillion Demon Point mark clicked into place and an energy that Leonel couldn't resist enveloped him.

Thaela could only watch as Leonel vanished, her glare absolutely murderous.

The fog domain around her finally vanished and she began looking around with veins popping in her eyes.

Even if Leonel died, she wouldn't let his soul rest in peace.

"Where did he hide that little bitch?"

She ground her teeth.

She had already calculated that Leonel's flash teleportation range was only 10 kilometers, so there was a radius around here where Aina was.

After she shattered Leonel's panda construct, her Spatial Force had caught on to the fact that there was a second person, but she seemed to be in a deep state of meditation that was difficult to come out of.

Since she couldn't kill Leonel, she would go after his little lover.

Fury rushed through her veins. She had actually failed to kill a Tier 1 instantly, she was absolutely livid and needed something to vent her answer on. Not only would she kill his little lover, but she would make sure it was a terrible death.

A 10 kilometer radius? That was nothing.

…

Leonel appeared in a world of darkness, his face pale and his breathing haggard. He clutched his spear in his hand, looking ahead in absolute silence.

A heavy weight surrounded his body, threatening to Force him to his knees.

To be continued