Chapter 140 - A Storm Overhead

"Let's keep going, shall we?"

Unequipping the blade that he had formed out of Thunder, Leo looked to where the hilltop was.

From where he currently was standing, it was still quite a way to get there. But, he still made progress. It would only be a matter of time until he gets there.

With his electricity-clad shoes, Leo ran up a building and looked out from the roof. He had just defeated a bunch of soldiers that were terrorizing citizens, not that they know who killed their assailants off.

Regardless, Leo didn't really have the time to receive congratulations. Not that he wanted to, anyway.

"What's that?"

Out in the distance, Leo could see some black-colored vapor congregating in the middle of the road. What's more, it appeared to be moving in a straight direction, down the main road.

"The heck is that?"

Leo moved in for a closer look. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he soon reached a building that was close to the main road. The reason he didn't jump down there was something he saw once he got close enough.

'Nope, definitely not getting close to that.'

He had a lot more sense than a typical muscle-head.

From where he was standing, the black mist seemed to be eating at everything organic. No, it was a lot more accurate if he called it absorbing.

Grass, trees, and even small plants were shriveled up as soon as they came into contact with the black mist. It appeared that time sped up at contact that made the plant life wither and die in a matter of seconds.

So, what can Leo do?

Observing from atop a building, Leo watched with great interest what was happening and, eventually, came to the conclusion that he can't do anything to the thing.

Leo essentially gave up.

Despite his new fraudulent strength, Leo knew that he couldn't fight something he couldn't touch.

That being said, Leo saw no reason to fight against the damned thing anyway. It definitely seemed to be minding its own business, so Leo had no qualms with it.

But, just when he was about to turn around, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

A small ghost-like phantom flew into the dark mist.

Leo, instinctively, squatted and watched as the scene unfolded.

It didn't take a full five seconds for the next phantom to fly into the mist. This time, Leo got a better look at the thing.

The best way to describe it was a 'spirit.' It was closely akin to those seen in popular horror movies of ghosts. The thought of it made Leo feel chills all over his spine.

'What is going on?'

It was something entirely out of this world. What's more, it didn't seem to be stopping, either. Every second that passed seemed to accumulate more and more of these spirits.

'I kinda feel the need to stop it now.'

With a heavy sigh, Leo jumped down the roof and started to sprint towards the main road. Of course, his sprint only lasted for a few seconds because of how fast he really was.

'Now, how do I stop you?'

It was a loaded question. As the dark mist slowly approached him, Leo stared and racked his brain for a solution. If he didn't do anything, he would get enveloped by the mist and end up like a shriveled corpse.

But, before he could really do anything, something suddenly shot towards him.

Naturally, with Leo, his instincts were as fast as lightning. Taking a single step back, Leo dodged the projectile completely. The thing left a smoldering crater in its wake, albeit a small one.

'Fireball?'

A simple yet standard spell that anybody could use. Although, to have such a basic spell make a crater such as that would require some mastery over it.

Looking at where the Fireball had come from, Leo started to scout nearby buildings. Clearly, the spell came from a much higher elevation. However, before he could actually decipher where it had come from, a barrage of basic spells suddenly came his way.

'Nope!'

Pure electricity started to run around Leo's legs. From there, his speed skyrocketed, making him dodge all of the spells like they had come at him in slow motion.

Thanks to his newly attained Class, Leo had a much easier time moving around than before. The speed that made him fast was thanks to a lot of Thunder magic. Additionally, he actually had an easier time reacting too.

With his Perception Attribute being as high as it is, Leo had no trouble maneuvering through the barrage of spells. Pairing that with his speed, Leo made his way out of the blast zone without a scratch on him.

'Well, I guess I don't have to pull my punches either.'

Just like that, Thunder started crackling in the sky. With a darkened expression and an overly creepy smile, electricity started concentrating in Leo's hands.

'This should be fun.'

Leo shifted out of the assailant's eyes and ran at them at full speed. With a single blink, the enemy lost track of Leo, who had just been standing in the middle of the street. He then suddenly reappeared on top of a nearby building a few seconds later.

From a higher vantage point, Leo saw where the barrage of spells had come from. A simple scope of the area prompted him to think that the assailants were in three different buildings.

With that in mind, Leo moved.

As the thunder clouds started forming from up above, they blocked most of the sunlight. Darkness ensued over the small area that Leo was in.

This was Leo's domain. This was Renegade of Storms.

Thunder started crackling from above. The spellcasters seemed to be confused as to what made the thunder clouds suddenly appear.

Their confusion made a much more effective surprise attack for the Emissary of Thunder.

Leaping from the rooftop, Leo had cleared a considerable distance with just a single jump. Naturally, with his physique and masterful use of Thunder, this was entirely possible.

The sound of glass shattered as Leo crashed into a nearby building through a window.

From there, Leo managed to catch confused and altruistically terrified faces. Clearly surprised, Leo willingly took advantage of the chaos.

Thunder crackled at Leo's palms.

At this point, Leo was ecstatic.

He felt the need to test his newfound strength on someone who could fight back. Someone that would at least posed a challenge to him. Where else would he find such an opportunity apart from right now?

Taking a fighting stance similar to that with boxing, Leo took on a slight smirk. From his opponents' point of view, though, it felt ominous.

The man standing before them seemed to have Thunder at his beck and call. He donned a dark expression paired with a cheekily little grin. It was as if they were staring directly at a crazed killer.

So, understandably, they attacked.

'Six people, huh?'

Leo suddenly held his breath as he concentrated on the spells that were coming his way. A natural, primal instinct suddenly kicked in as he dodged the spells with relative ease.

From there, he lunged. Leo managed to close the distance between him and his opponents with great speed.

Pure electricity in his hands, Leo swung his fists.

Bleck!

Leo's thunder-clad fist connected with his opponent's jaw. Spit flew directly out of the guy's mouth!

As satisfying as it was, Leo's attack was naturally met by some resistance.

The opponent that he had recently struck fought back. It was unnatural to think that they wouldn't. After all, they were still highly-trained elite soldiers.

The man quickly recovered and threw out a fist clad in a fire. He aimed at Leo's unprotected stomach, a standard counterattack.

Pak!

A solid hit.

Leo quickly jumped back a few steps as he winced from the sudden attack. Clearly, he wasn't prepared in the slightest.

However, his opponents didn't let up either.

Seeing Leo distracted, the soldiers cast a bunch of spells targeting him. It was an advantage that they had to make use of!

Compared to the Prince, the soldiers had much more combat experience than he did. That includes training, as well. There was a clear gap between the two parties. Leo, though, had a much bigger advantage than his opponents did.

Power!

Leo admitted that he had been caught off-guard. He had instinctively held back, completely unaware that he did. That was because, so far, he had managed to kill most of his enemies in one shot. His brain had automatically assumed the same for the soldiers standing before him.

It was an assumption that he would not make again.

Shifting his body ever so slightly, the spells flew past him and struck the wall behind him. From there, the electricity in Leo's hands started to form a long blade. The blade was the same length as the one that he had previously been using.

"Let's begin the second round, shall we?"

With the same ominous smile and the darkened expression that covered his eyes, Leo moved. This time, he really wasn't pulling any punches.

Slice!

The sound of his blade echoed within the walls of the room as he cut through the second barrage of spells. Swinging and slicing, Leo had no trouble maintaining the same speed as he ran through different elemental spells.

Like a thunderclap, he appeared in front of one of his opponents. Leo swung his blade in a beautiful arc that resembled a bolt of lightning descending from the sky.

However, there was one key difference.

Cling!

The sound of his sword hit the enemy soldier with good force. Unfortunately, it was not enough to finish the guy off. He had activated Formless Mana Defense beforehand, making himself capable of withstanding Leo's attack.

Leo, however, was not surprised in the slightest. He had no time to be surprised, for that matter, because one of the other soldiers threw a fireball at him.

Quickly reacting, Leo lunged forward instead of back. He closed in on the same target that had withstood his attack.

Leo swung his blade once more, hitting the same defensive Mana that had protected the soldier.

Swing! Swing!

Leo's blade continuously attacked like a thunderstorm overhead. He didn't give time for his opponent to breathe. With continuous relentless attacks, the enemy soldier's Formless Mana Defense soon ran out.

Crackle!

The blade finally penetrated the defensive Mana, making the enemy's soldier blood bloom. It was Leo's first real opponent. One that was able to defend his attacks and lasted significantly longer than normal people would.

Leo stood in silence for a few seconds, taking in what had just happened. He recalled what the Thunder God had said to him, how his power was meant to make people feel safe.

'Heh. Sure doesn't feel that way. Whatever, let's just keep going.'

Turning around and facing his angered enemies, Leo then started to go on a rampage as the clouds overhead rumbled.

"That's weird."

Rynold stopped dead in his tracks as he looked above.

The sky had turned dark for some odd reason. Rynold felt compelled to wonder why. It was just bright and sunny a few seconds ago, after all. For it to suddenly turn dark was a bit odd even by his standards.

"Master? Is something wrong?"

X caught Rynold's wandering gaze and made him refocus on the task at hand.

"Nothing. Let's go. The Duke should be up this road."

The two were currently following the Duke's trail. However, because Rynold had lost consciousness, they had a significant distance to cover to catch up to him.

Rynold was confident that he now stood a much better chance against the Duke's cursed magic. However, there were other pressing concerns as well. Because of the considerable distance between him and the Duke, Rynold had no idea if there were still people left to save.

With a heavy weight on his shoulders, Rynold decided to push on.