Having its brain scrambled, the lizard could not think or feel anything. It was already dead. This swift and decisive attack was a show of Leo's mercilessly brutal skills. But that was only the tip of the iceberg.
After displaying his strength, the lizardmen who had only begun making their way towards Leo were jolted awake. They had to take action. The human in front of them had the capability of killing them within seconds. It had to be eliminated immediately.
Leo did not move. His machete was lodged inside the lizardman's head, he could not pull it out. The minute twitching of his right arm was clear for them to see. This was an opening they had to take advantage of.
Three of the four lunged at him with their knives, intending to kill the threat off as quickly as possible. All the while the lizardman, who had flinched at the start, charged at Leo with his shield.
It was the closest, as such would reach the target the fastest and would need to delay the human until its kin reached it. So it planned to crash into the man and daze him. Even if it failed, it would be able to use its shield to defend itself. Unlike its dead kin, it was prepared.
'It's still unaware…'
The lizardman sneered seeing the human still focused on pulling out the machete, the human did not seem to have much battlefield awareness. At the very least the man should have observed his enemies while doing so. Its evaluation of the enemy decreased a bit.
Suddenly, just as the lizardman's shield was about to make contact, Leo let go of the right machete.
Crash!
The lizard missed and hit one of the other lizards attacking from his right. Leo had blocked their view of each other and drew their attention to his right weapon. As such they were caught unaware of each other's movements.
It was a simple yet effective tactic. Leaving yourself open to find an opening.
'It lost its weapon…'
The rightmost lizard, who had been furthest from him, sneered at the foolish human. It didn't expect for the human to be stupid enough to let go of its weapon. Logically speaking, from the lizardman's limited knowledge, dropping one's weapon amidst battle was a death sentence.
The human was now left defenseless and could only use its fist. The lizard was confident in not taking even a hint of damage from such attacks. In fact, scratching its scales would be a feat in itself.
Unfortunately, the lizard had not seen Leo's first attack that had lobed off a hand with ease. It had not even turned its head when Leo landed his second. And by that point, Leo had deliberately hid the machete from its line of sight.
He had anticipated the lizardmen's reactions and made them act according to his movements. Now whether the lizardmen took the bait would be hinged on his execution.
Given all the intel lizardman gathered within the short time after being materialized, attacking the "defenseless" human while it was recovering from its reflexive dodge was the lizardman's best option.
It could not waste this opportunity. The lizardman, like its other kin, had acknowledged the threat of the man in front of them.
With a furious roar, the red lizard slashed with his ragged dagger.
Roa–
The roar was stifled. Leo had spun his body and brought forth the sharp blade of his machete, cutting its throat.
Drip! Drip! Drip!
Thump!
Blood gushed from the wound as its body fell lifeless onto the ground.
'Two down…'
Leo assessed as he turned to face the only lizardman that remained standing. It had gotten close, but not within range of his blade. The lizardman had been apprehensive of the machete pointed at it, so it did not follow its shield bearing companion.
As such it waited for an opening, which appeared as Leo slit its kin's throat. Twisting its body, it whipped its scaled tail at him overhead.
Fwoosh!
There was tremendous power within that strike, evident from the howling wind. It was frighteningly fast. Any normal human would be hard pressed to find a way to avoid it.
Thud!
Crack!
Dried swamp mud, that was all the tail met.
A deep gash in the ground appeared in the wake of its attack. Leo had narrowly avoided the tail whip by turning his body to the side at the last second. Harsh gust of wind grazed his body, but he was left unscathed.
Although the lizardman failed to injure him, its attack gave the two that had fallen prone the opportunity to get up. Realizing that its attack had not made contact, it immediately jumped back and regrouped with the other lizardmen.
It did not want to fall prey to the human's schemes. Having seen what it could while dodging, it became cautious. However, that was a miscalculation.
Leo could not make any meaningful attack with his compromised position. A Lizardman's tail was the strongest part of their body. It was 2 meters long and covered with the hardest and sharpest scales on its body.
His only option was to keep dodging if the lizardman continued to attack. As such Leo also retreated a couple steps back to regain his lost footing. His breathing grew heavy. He had exerted quite a bit of energy and focus during those intense few seconds of combat.
"Tsk."
He clicked his tongue and evaluated his condition.
'My body can't keep up with my skills. I need to regain my muscle memory…'
Although Leo had honed his muscles and trained with his subordinates over the past couple of months, his body was still not accustomed to this type of combat.
'How long has it been since I felt like this?'
A smile spread across his face as the three lizardmen approached him while growling to each other. It seemed like they were communicating with each other and coordinating an attack.
"Well…"