Leo lingered for a long, silent moment, several thoughts flashing by his head in a flurry.
After a long while of wordless rumination, he said hesitantly:
"How about we don't… Look, I trust you and all, but a part of me feels like we shouldn't share such intimate matters. At least not yet.
"Let's get to know each other first."
'Oh, so this is on me now? Just peachy! You hack!'
Barely suppressing her bubbling anger, Bian lowered her tone, turning almost ice-cold.
"Why not? You trust me, don't you? …And I trust you more than you can think. What's the holdup for? Besides, surely, with the two of us combined, a Vow can be made. I may not be a seventh-level mage, nor are you, but with the two of our levels combined, I'm sure that prerequisite is no longer a problem.
"If we combined our powers, the surely a Vow can be made. Or, what, are you not of a high enough level to do such a simple thing?" She mocked openly, provoking and taunting the renowned mage with barely hidden hostility.
Something about him just irked her to a frustrating degree.
Leo narrowed his golden eyes.
Something about him changed.
"…!!"
And Bian was too slow to recognize it. She was too late.
Suddenly, the ground softened and crumbled apart, almost like quagmire, and an opening filled triangular bones swallowed the golden-eyed contestant in a second!
Bian just barely dodged out of the way, her belated instincts taking her a couple feet from the sudden arrival of the underground creature.
Her face paled just a little when she saw the enormous creature swallow Leo's entire body in one gulp. The golden-eyed candidate gave her a mocking stare and smirked, not minding the creature swallowing him from the bottom up with one quick swallow.
He waved amicably.
Her eyes narrowed.
'What is he…'
And then, she realized it.
Leo was trying to escape!
Tracing the path of the creature with Manavision, she found trails of manipulated and conjured beige mana particles below ground, altered and transmuted for easier passing. It was certainly a marvel of machinations, as far as transportation and excavation abilities went… but as a battle tactic — of an opponent, no less — it caused her a very painful and concerning headache.
It was very annoying!
Circulating mana throughout her body, she ignited her speed-enhancing spell and allowed her feet to travel, putting just a few feet from the odious worm-like subterranean creature.
Weeping Maiden flashed once…
*tink!*
But the creature was already gone, having swallowed Leo completely and dove underground with one swift motion. As her rapier nicked off the surprisingly tough flesh of the odious worm-like subterranean creature, a frustrated expression came about her, as if she was the one who had been swallowed.
Bian stomped her foot in indignation and frustration, glaring at the rumbling earth.
'So, that's what the tremors from earlier was from. Dammit! I should have known.'
Indeed, the tremors, of rather the seismic vibrations caused by the odious worm-like subterranean creature was the result of its rapid movements. The softened earth was most likely an ability of it's, as well, granting it the ability to quickly mold and traverse the underground with great efficiency.
She was sure of it: that creature was another of Leo's. A summoned creature, nowhere near the power of the Legend, but still very deadly and powerful in its own domain.
And fast too, it seems. When Bian came to it, the creature's presence was already gone, along with Leo's distinct mana signature. The tremors was so far away that it was hard to find out where it was coming from, too.
One thing was for certain, though…
Leo had already left the battlefield.
"Goddammit!" She yelled from the top of her lungs, cursing under her breath.
It was then that a primal and bestial scream was heard for a second time from beyond the dark clouds heavenwards.
And then, something sharp and deadly peaked and pierced the layer of dark clouds like a sacred arrow of light.
"No… did he fail?"
The realization hit her like a stone brick.
"That bastard!"
The Legend of the Dead Sea had awoken.
◇◆◇◆◇
In the end, Harita failed. At this point, failure was such a familiar aspect of his life that meeting it was of not a surprise anymore.
It still stung, though!
"…Well, at least I was able to do something."
As the green flames of his blade turned into embers, then to meager sparks ,and ultimately transmuted back to water and dropped onto the Legend once its shape fell apart, so did a part of him. Specifically his very being, the core aspect of his existence.
The soul. Harita had lost a sizeable fragment of his already broken soul.
This was the price he had to pay. Even for an incomplete Dying Will, a ninth of it to be exact, to be able to injure a Legend so severely is a much bigger achievement than he could ever hope so.
And yet, he couldn't help but feel lonely and desecrated.
But that thought had to wait until later.
The Legend was about to fall.
◇◆◇◆◇
*SCREEEEECH!*
A manic cry pierced the atmosphere, making Lieren stop in his tracks momentarily. Because of that, his opponent, which seemed to be immune to high-pitched noises landed a solid hit to into his face.
'Gah! Damn!' He lampooned inwardly, the shock of the mighty blow knocking his senses back to him with a stagger. Recalling the solid half of master Feng Xing Liu's battle art, he grounded his feet fixed his center of mass, continuing to do so to the point that he was squatting.
Because of that, his opponent's straight jab missed him just by a matter of inches.
His opponent was a Fighter, it seemed. One that relied on pure explosive force and concentrated employment of Mana Burst.
Raising his left hand, Lieren swept the air above him, slashing through the barehanded Fighter's exposed forearm.
"…!!"
But before the tip of his blade could pass through the other side, the barehanded Fighter's skin suddenly hardened, catching Lieren off-guard!
He was caught in his own attack!
'Tch.'
Clicking his tongue, Lieren circulated Fortification mana throughout his left forearm and right foot, pivoting quickly and jumped away from the dire predicament. The barehanded Fighter tried to harden his skin even more to stop his escape, but Lieren was too nimble.
With one swift, calculated motion, Lieren found himself a few feet away from the barehanded Fighter.
But he wasn't the only one he needed to worry about.
Circulating even more mana throughout his body and turning to the side, Lieren leapt away from his current position. Not even a second later, several miniature cyclones ripped through the space he was just in, making his face pale and his expressions cold.
He could not keep this up for long.
Glaring at the Stormcaster who casted the spell he just dodged, Lieren casted Invisible Abjuration, letting loose several invisible arrows to travel through the fabric of space with an unnatural sound.
*VOOM!*
With the inorganic sound of rupturing space, the half-dozen arrows exploded once they reached a certain point in space, exploding outwards with astonishing space, akin to that of a dust explosion…
And ripped straight through the Stormcaster's lower organs.
"…Gah!" The woman let out a hoarse cough, blood pouring out of her mouth like a broken faucet.
A chill ran down his spine.
'Behind!'
Pivoting in place, Lieren dropped his hips, legs, and shoulders, lowering his stance and evading a wide sweep from the barehanded Fighter.
At this distance, so close to his opponent, Lieren couldn't use his prized and only spell, Invisible Abjuration, as the resulting explosive blast would end up damaging and even killing him in the process.
That was, until his fight with the blind monk, master Feng Xing Liu, her up-close and masterful battle prowess, and her mana's unique property and subsequent abilities based around it.
It was then that Lieren had to push himself to the limit, reading through various tomes and books on the limitations and possible restrictions a spell could have. It was great boon that he was in a treasury chockfull of the stuff.
Taking a step back, his inquisitive blue eyes peered past the darkness for a moment and flashed.
"Invisible Abjuration: Libera!"
At his behest, dozens of small, miniature arrows streaked through the fabric of space, tearing through the barehanded Fighter's exposed arms and shoulders. Fortunately, his defenses weren't on the same level as his mobility and offense, thus he was able to promptly deal with it and destroy the man's arms and shoulders entirely.
A scream of pain and agony tore the sullen air, as if trying to rip it to pieces the entire time, with several more incoming. Soon enough, the man was dead, and his legacy ruined.
Moving past the barehanded Fighter without remorse, Lieren cut the man's maimed left arm and didn't look back, even when several curses and apparent dark wishes was hurled at him. Some tried to linger, to hex and curse him, but none of them stayed any longer than they arrived, repelled instantly by his mysterious Resistance.
Following this, he finally delivered the final blow to the bleeding and agonizing Stormcaster, letting the slowly dying woman finally rest for all eternity. She had reached Death's Edge.
And then, he shot a glare to his back, Letting loose an invisible arrow and utterly eviscerating the man's chest without any resistance whatsoever. The barehanded Fighter was strong, but not enough to power through even with a maimed arm and an eviscerate limb. Not everybody had such an outlandish limit as he did.
Allowing himself to breath out a small sigh of relief, he belatedly realized his mistake as the sudden reality of the situation fell down on him like a judging gavel.
'There were six… When they entered this room, there were six of those reinforcement in Scorpio's reinforcement squad. I had already killed five of them; a swordsman; a Warcaster and Stormcaster; a barehanded Fighter, and a man of unknown strength — the one I ended first in the beginning…. So, where's the last one?' As that thought sent a shiver down his spine, Lieren turned sideways, finding a familiar yet unfamiliar figure by his side.
She had a hate-filled glare and was chanting an ominous aria, her hands forming complex gestures as dark-red runes and an ominously glowing magic circle lit up around her robed figure. There was an inlaid staff piercing the ground in front of her, powering the magic circle and serving as a battery for her dark purple barrier, which blended with the surrounding shadows and darkness as if it was on of its kin. The stone she stood was cracked and decimated, like every other part of the desecrated battlefield. She was over a dozen meters away from him, far enough that — even if he overloaded his legs with mana — he wouldn't be able to catch her, let alone destroy the barrier she had made and stop whatever dangerous spell she was on the cusp of casting at full power.
A fleeting voice said through the ominous glow, weak and powerless:
"No…" Nevertheless, his headstrong and unrelenting nature pushed him ever forward, even when his body and mind had already give up.
His soul was still burning bright.
…However, he didn't need to do anything anymore.
Because, like the reinforcement, he also had his set of allies… even if not all of them were less inclined to help him as the others.
A myriad of blood red strings slithered from the shattered stone beneath her feet, moving through the cracks like sentient snakes and moving soundlessly below her without a single word.
And then, they bared their fangs and strike, wrapping around the woman's wrist and arms, breaking her concentration… but not her determination.
Lieren tried to reach out and recalled the miracle he had performed.
'Crap! I let my guard dow—'
*BOOM!*
Lieren put op his hand in defense, trying to replicate the barrier he had created about half an hour ago… however, he was too unskilled and inexperienced, not to mention his massive deficiency of mana and stamina. It was a miracle that he was even able to stand for as long as he could, not to mention fight so many opponents.
As he fret and tried to come up with a possible solution, the Warcaster's spell had already been cast, and her barrier was voluntarily torn down the dark purple barrier, letting him witness the full brunt of the explosion spell's might and power.
*FLASH!*
For a second, his entire vision was completely gone, his mind and body paused eternally as piercing, immolating, and dire pain spread throughout his beaten and battered body, sending him flying and into the wall behind him with a loud and powerful slam! He stumbled, his bruised, cut, immolated, burnt, beaten, bleeding, and mostly damaged body steaming from the permeating heat.
His limbs and appendages were completely lodged in the walls.
But his mind and focus was elsewhere, specifically on thing only:
"How… how am I alive?"
Even opening his eyes was too much of a trouble to do so, tiring and exhausting him ever more than before — and yet he pressed on, and noticed the weave of blood-red strings covering his entire body, almost like a suit of complete body armor. It perfectly outlined his lanky body, accentuating his comparatively weak and small muscles. They had grown a lot in the past months, in response to the constant stress and exercise — mostly running — he had to go through, seemingly on a daily basis.
It was a massive pain, but it had helped him. A lot. Most of his speed, agility, and power still came from the Augmentation his wild mana had given him, though, as well as its enhanced properties. His Resistance aided him with the cost and efficiency, too, so he was still able to keep up with most of his opponents in terms of speed, power, resilience, and agility.
Just like how, at the very last second, he managed to run Fortification throughout his entire skeletal frame, skin, and muscles, making him as tough and resilient as a stone statue.
But even stone statues had their limits, just like how Lieren had his.
Lifting his chain with a pained grunt, he saw the familiar figure of a fiery-red haired woman with a suit that perfectly outlined her body, as a pair of hazel eyes looking at him with unhidden disdain. At the same time, the innumerable weave of blood red strings unraveled themselves with swift sentient motions like a snake's. It happened so quickly that several more burnt marks and even a few lacerations imprinted themselves onto his body.
A cold voice resounded:
"Now, what shall I do with you?"