1675: Stubborn

Stubborn

Leonel fell heavily from the ground. Although it sometimes looked as though the two were flying, the reality was that their leg strength was just so strong that they could clash as much in mid-air as they did on the ground.2

Landing with a bang, Leonel casually swept his spear out. He didn't even look like he had shed even a single bead of sweat, his clothing just as immaculate as it had been before and his cold smile in his eyes not fading in the slightest.

"If this is all you have, why did you bother to stand before me? Did you think that 20 years was really enough for the likes of you to catch up to me?"

Leonel's words caused the hearts of those in the surroundings to tremble. He was eight Tiers beneath Conon. He had lost 20 years of effort due to the time dilation. Conon had all the advantages on his side. And yet, none of it seemed to matter in the slightest.

In the distance, Conon slowly rose to his feet. Despite the solid nature of Leonel's kick, he didn't seem injured in the slightest, and that was because he wasn't. Leonel's kick had done nothing more than humiliate him, and yet it stung more than even if a hole had been ripped through his chest.

Standing to his full height, Conon's eyes locked onto Leonel who was slowly walking toward him.

"Alright. If that's what you want, let's do it."

The sound of clanging armor resounded and golden Force solidified all around Conon. Piece by piece, they connected to one another, forming a radiant armor that alternated between bestial furs and metal.

Conon's arms flared outward as his gaze became even more dull.

At that moment, the hairs on the back of Leonel's neck rose to attention. It didn't feel like he was being looked at by a human any longer. It was as though the Conon he knew had vanished, only to be replaced by an apex predator.

Conon vanished, appearing before Leonel with a fist that could collapse mountains. The golden Force around his knuckles took the shape of a roaring lion, the imprint shattering the ground it glided above as it appeared before Leonel's face.

Leonel's eyes narrowed, raising his spear.

BANG!

Leonel's arms jolted before he dispersed the force behind the blow, and yet he was still forced to take three steps backward.

Conon's leg rose into the air, lashing out like a whip.

Leonel blocked once more, but Conon's next attack already appeared like a relentless avalanche. Fist, legs, elbows, knees, he flowed from one style to the next seamlessly. He didn't seem like he cared about what parts of his body he used, even once using his forehead to meet the tip of Leonel's spear without the slightest fluctuation in his eyes.

Leonel found that predicting his next movement was almost impossible precisely because there was nothing to predict.

'This Style…'

Leonel retreated again and again, his expression cold. The defense of his spear was airtight. His previous lack of skill was nowhere to be seen. He looked like a refined expert, even facing an enemy with a relentless, tireless assault, he didn't seem to be suffering too quickly.

Leonel's spear spun in his hands.

Swift.

In that moment, the skies seemed to be filled with the shadows of Leonel's spear, his movements so fast that it was almost impossible to track with the naked eye. He seemed to embody more than just the word, the world resonated, fusing with his movements to bolster his speed further, a melody that caused the heart to race replaying in the ears of all those that laid eyes on him.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Leonel's movements became even faster, sometimes switching out Swift for Forceful, and sometimes Forceful for Subtle.

The elegance of his spear technique touched upon a new level, one that made Valor and the other spearman in the crowd watch on with heavy breaths. They could feel their spears trembling within their rings, wanting to make their ways out if for nothing other than to experience the beauty for themselves.

Two clashing shadows of gold danced around the Void Palace, each entering a state of absolute oneness with their martial arts, however even with this being so, there was no doubt to those that could see what was happening clearly that Leonel was in a tier all to his own.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Leonel's spear pierced forward, his wrist flexing with such force that the tip of his golden spear trembled fiercely, causing one attack to suddenly become three.

Conon's fist had already flown forward and it was much too late for it to change trajectories, so instead, he fluidly flowed from a fist attack into an elbow strike, using the larger area of his forearm to block Leonel's maneuver.

However, in response to that, Leonel flowed into a new stance as well, his pierce becoming a sweep upward that perfectly chained into the butt of his spear colliding against Conon's liver.

Conon's valiant armor trembled, a violent surge of force travelling through. An odd resonating feeling caused his entire body to tremble, his stoic expression giving way to a warped visage. He coughed out a mouthful of blood, half of his body trembling.

Conon swiped out a claw at Leonel's head with one hand, using the other to protect his side from a second attack. However, Leonel had simply used the momentum of his first strike to spin his spear in the counter direction, swatting Conon's claw toward the sky and striking out with a palm toward his chest.

BANG!

Leonel's palm caused Conon to throw up another mouthful of blood as he flew backward. Once again, he had lost.

Conon roared into the skies, the fury and unwillingness in his tone clear for all to hear.

At that moment, a wild surge of Universal Force descended from the skies, causing Leonel's eyes to narrow.

'Natural Light Realm…' Leonel analyzed.

He shook his head. How stubborn. Would he prefer to be beaten an inch within his life?

Leonel fell to the ground, holding out his spear toward Conon as his aura rose. He exhaled, a white gold Force surging around him.

His hair became a spirit-like white, three enormous illusory tails spreading out to his back as his sideburns grew.

Leonel took a step forward and vanished, his speed more than ten times faster than before.

BANG!

Conon rebounded against the ground like a bouncing ball.

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