Chapter 89: The Duel of Strength and Magic

For some reason, I had a bad feeling.

Even after confirming that Leonis had been struck by the blue lightning, the unease remained.

His body, transcending human limits, reacted to the mana, slowly transforming.

As his senses sharpened, a new sensation, one that had never existed before, awakened within me.

A sense of discord. And a sense of impending danger.

A feeling akin to foresight began seeping into my entire being.

Just as the horns protruding from my head started to tingle, that ominous premonition turned into reality.

“Hm…”

Leonis let out a faint groan as he pushed himself up.

His white-glowing eyes faded like mist swept away by the wind.

A thin, pyramid-shaped barrier enveloped his body.

Through the translucent veil, I could see him clearly.

In his hand, he held a slender metal rod that emitted a peculiar glow.

“Good thing I saved this.”

The follow-up Chain Lightning had been ineffective.

He had used that tool just before the lightning struck him.

The same tool he had once used to immobilize the Nightmare had now been repurposed to protect himself.

Leonis, wearing a stiff expression, rolled his shoulders before tossing the rod aside.

As soon as he did, the mana barrier surrounding him dissipated.

I furrowed my brows and adjusted my stance.

My sword was drawn back, aimed directly at him.

When its gleaming tip sliced through the sunlight, Leonis spoke.

“You… Are you really human?”

His gaze lingered on my eyes and horns before shifting away.

My hands had already lost their human form, but the gauntlets I wore concealed them.

Why?

Why wouldn’t this ominous feeling disappear?

I had landed a direct Palm Strike on him.

His insides should be in shambles, rendering him unable to use mana.

A mage who cannot use mana would be an easy opponent.

I knew Leonis had trained his body far beyond that of an ordinary mage, but in the end, he was still a spellcaster reliant on mana.

“You’re thinking too much.”

At that moment, Leonis moved.

Compared to before, his speed was incomparably slow—merely that of an average adult male sprinting.

His sluggish pace only made my thoughts more tangled.

Was he deceiving me? Or was he simply being reckless?

I wouldn’t know until I clashed with him.

As a faint breath escaped me, flickering embers wavered.

The moment Leonis closed the distance, I swung my sword at him.

Stardust-like mana infused my blade as it cut through the air.

The sword left behind a trailing light, aimed directly at Leonis’ body.

Yet just before the blade could reach him—

Leonis vanished from my sight.

A momentary burst of high-speed movement.

He had lured me into complacency before pushing off the ground with his enhanced physique.

If my body had not undergone its own transformation, I would have completely lost track of him.

But now, it was different.

The dragon-like traits that had manifested throughout my body sharpened my senses.

Even if I had lost visual contact, I could still track his presence and the flow of mana.

Upper right.

The instant I perceived his location and attack trajectory, I forcibly twisted my sword’s path.

The accumulated mana along my blade erupted at once, accelerating its speed.

Shiiing!

My upper and lower body twisted in the same direction.

Normally, such a posture wouldn’t allow for much power, but my transcendent body was different.

The wide, sweeping strike carried enough force to be a serious threat.

Yet just before my blade reached Leonis’ body, I sensed a sudden shift in mana.

Mana rapidly condensed between my sword and Leonis, forming a precise and distinct shape.

Tatadak!

A Magic Missile fired by Leonis struck the edge of my sword with immense force, significantly slowing its momentum.

The next moment, his heavy fist crashed into my face.

Thud! Crack!

In a fraction of a second, three blows landed.

Thanks to the mana barrier surrounding me, the damage wasn’t severe, but the sensation was infuriating.

I swiftly reached out with my left hand and seized Leonis’ arm.

His expression stiffened with surprise—he clearly hadn’t expected me to grab him while taking a direct hit.

Seizing the opportunity, I attempted another Palm Strike.

Mana surged from my heart, racing through my arm.

Just as the mana left my hand and was about to enter Leonis’ body—

I detected an abrupt surge of mana from his arm.

The moment his blue mana erupted, it clashed violently with mine outside our bodies, generating a massive repelling force.

BANG!

Leonis and I were flung apart simultaneously, the sheer impact forcing us to release each other.

“That’s quite a terrifying technique you’ve got there.”

Leonis muttered, smirking as if mocking me. He kept talking, deliberately trying to provoke me.

I frowned.

Palm Strike had been countered far too easily.

Then again, I should have expected it.

Leonis was a mage. The moment he experienced the attack firsthand, he must have grasped how it functioned.

Inject mana into the opponent’s body and trigger a violent rebound for massive internal damage.

So, the countermeasure was simple—prevent foreign mana from entering in the first place.

Should I prepare a powerful spell?

No.

Leonis was a mage. If he sensed my mana fluctuating, he would immediately seize the opening and unleash an overwhelming assault.

That left me with only one option—close-quarters combat.

I widened my stance, leveling my sword.

At the same time, shimmering Magic Missiles floated around me like tiny stars. As their faint warmth spread—

Leonis moved again.

Our combat styles were similar, but my physical durability far surpassed his.

Even though Leonis had erected a mana barrier, underneath it, he was still just human flesh and blood.

Boom!

Fist met fist.

My sword, swung with full force, was blocked by Leonis’ leg.

Then—

Mana erupted in the air, detonating in a rapid chain reaction.

His and my Magic Missiles clashed, canceling each other out.

My physical capabilities were superior.

Yet, I couldn’t seize the upper hand.

Leonis wielded Magic Missile in ways I had never seen before.

He hid projectiles within his fists.

He used them as stepping stones mid-air.

His familiarity with this style of combat was evident.

Unlike other mages, every spell he cast was designed to enhance his body.

As time passed, Leonis’ complexion grew paler.

He staggered slightly, and a thin line of blood trickled from his lips.

Was the delayed impact of Palm Strike finally catching up to him?

Or was this just another trick to lure me into carelessness?

I couldn’t be sure.

I had seen too much, and my thoughts were growing chaotic.

Leonis’ attacks remained formidable, striking with menacing precision.

And then—

As all the Magic Missiles disappeared from the air—

Additional mana began gathering around his arms and legs.

Despite possessing a body tougher than that of a human, this was one moment when evasion was necessary.

His attack penetrated the barrier of mana, accumulating dull impacts within my body.

I couldn’t afford to use spells with long casting times.

I needed something that could be cast instantly yet had enough destructive power to finish off Leonis.

When his sword carved a small star in the air with a wide swing, Leonis suddenly closed in on me.

The next moment, his body spun, and a fierce gust of wind surged forth.

His footwork was strange.

His deeply bent legs formed an eerie angle, and with a sudden impact to my wrist, he kicked the pommel of my sword.

Pak~!

With just a slight impact, the sword slipped from my grip.

As it spun rapidly through the air, it mercilessly slashed through the golden sunlight.

Splintered light streaked across my face multiple times.

Suddenly, a small suffocating pressure began to build within my chest.

The tangled emotions welled up, instantly drawing mana throughout my body.

The moment the mana converged into a single point, Leonis’ relentless barrage began.

A human’s vital points are mostly concentrated around the center of the body.

Leonis’ fists aimed precisely for them—glabella, philtrum, jaw, throat, solar plexus, chest, abdomen.

Swift and heavy strikes pummeled every one of them.

My vision wavered, and my body staggered. A violent nausea surged from deep within.

At that instant, I unleashed the mana I had been building up.

Kwaaaaa—!

A radial burst of flames erupted, pushing everything away.

Even Leonis, who had dug into my space, was inevitably engulfed by the fire.

It was a flame of destruction, capable of incinerating everything in its path.

The mana shielding Leonis’ body began to erode.

Yet, in that moment, rather than pulling away, Leonis pressed even closer.

His movement was completely unexpected—I had assumed he would try to create distance.

Immediately after, a crushing impact struck beneath my chin.

Thud! Kwoooosh!

The force wrenched my head upward, and naturally, the breath attack shifted toward the sky.

A crimson blaze engulfed the blue expanse above.

Amid the searing red afterimages, Leonis’ figure emerged, looking utterly devastated.

His entire arm was scorched, revealing raw, bleeding flesh, and parts of his face had been burned by the intense heat.

His complicated gaze briefly met mine before flickering away.

Then, a bizarre wave of mana rippled around him, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished.

It was as if the very fabric of space had been torn away.

With my target gone, the flames trailing from my mouth dispersed meaninglessly.

However, just because he had disappeared from sight didn’t mean he was truly gone. Leonis’ presence was detected again—hundreds of meters away.

From that distant point, Leonis suddenly revealed his presence and began moving at incredible speed.

I immediately redirected my breath attack.

Fwoooosh!

Closing my mouth slightly, I compressed the fire’s intensity.

As the burning white flames narrowed into a concentrated line, Leonis’ presence vanished completely.

“Keuk…!”

Coughing up blood, I furrowed my brows.

At the peak of the snow-covered mountain, where ice and snow had melted away, his corpse was nowhere to be found. I had lost him.

Tracking—

I instinctively discarded the thought.

My body was in poor condition, and, more importantly, I had expended nearly all my remaining mana on the breath attack.

Moving my stiff body, I approached Nightmare, who was letting out sorrowful whimpers.

“Pwiing, pwiing…”

Nightmare’s large head repeatedly pressed against the mana barrier, trembling with teary eyes.

“Wait just a moment…”

I pulled out the metal rod embedded in the ground.

The moment I did, the barrier restraining Nightmare vanished.

Prrrhh!

With a rough exhale, Nightmare rushed toward me.

Licking my cheek fervently with its large tongue, it suddenly clamped down on the back of my collar and began descending the snow-white mountain.