He sighed, then gritted his teeth and brought the machete into his right hand, gripping it tightly. This was going to be slightly difficult, if he wanted to kill them all that is. His stamina wouldn't last and fatigue would take over.
Luckily for him, he had his subordinates. Taking a quick glance past his enemies, he saw them running towards his direction. They would arrive in a short moment.
All he had to do now was to stall for time.
Swish!
Swish!
Two tails short towards him like spears from either side of him. His only options to avoid the attacks were forwards and back. He was being pincered and in front of him was a charging lizard. Armed with a small wooden shield, it was intent on bulldozing Leo.
Once they had seen Leo lose focus for a moment, they sprung into action.
Clang!
Thud!
Crack!
Leo swung his machete to parry the right tail while he duck under the other. Then with a quick burst of agility, stepped out of the way of the charging lizard.
As the two lizards retracted their tails and spun their bodies to swing their daggers at him, Leo gave a kick to the back of the shield wielder. It lost its balance and crashed into the ground, dragging its face across the dried mud. Once again it was prone.
When the daggers were inches away from his face, he bent his back like he was playing limbo.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
He sprung back up as soon as the jagged blades passed his head. Using the openings in their attacks, he slashed at the right lizardman's left ankle.
Swish!
It didn't connect. The lizard sidestepped out of the way, but bumped into the other lizardman causing it to be thrown off balance for a second.
Leo followed up with a side kick, with his right, towards the same lizard's abdomen. Which was promptly blocked by the lizardman's forearm.
Thump!
Fwoosh!
The lizardman on his left whipped its long tail at Leo's left leg to trip him. Simultaneously, Leo pushed off the ground with his left and used his right to kick off into the air, launching him towards the prone lizardman.
His movements awed the lizardmen. It wasn't because of his agile reflexes but the fluidity of his execution. No, he didn't seem to be reacting to their movements. They were seamless, without any sort of hesitation or pause.
Rather it seemed as if he had already predicted how they were going to attack and just moved according to those assumptions. What was this called?
'Is this what the elders called reading the flow of battle?'
Such thoughts filled their minds as they pursued Leo.
Midair, he adjusted his grip on the machete, reversing it. With both hands on the handle he stabbed down on the lizard struggling to get up.
Pierce!
As he could not change the trajectory of his descent, he wasn't able to target any of its vital areas. Still the sharp blade was able to penetrate deep into its flesh causing it to suffer a significant injury on its left shoulder blade.
While it could still utilize its left arm, it would not be able to effectively use it during combat.
Fwoosh!
Fwoosh!
Two crimson whips thundered their way towards Leo's head and torso respectively. Not waiting for the attacks to arrive, he leaped off the lizard's back with a flip, pulling the machete out in the process. He spun his body around during the flip, as such landed facing the three lizards.
Like before, he retreated a few steps back to create more space between him and the monsters.
Similarly, his breathing became all the more labored. These intense bursts of action were taking a heavy toll on his stamina and the lizardmen took notice of it.
Compared to Leo's winded expression, they were relatively relaxed. The lizardmen found a way to defeat this terrifying foe. Wear the human down through a battle of attrition.
A couple more of these exchanges and the human will collapse on its own. Thus, the three continue their assault.
Learning from its earlier mistake, the shield bearing lizardmen launched an attack with its tail like its two kin. Doing so would keep the enemy at bay while keeping the rest of their body safe.
Even if they lost their tails in the process, they could regrow them later on.
Fwoosh!
Pierce!
Splurt!
Fwoosh!
Pierce!
Fwoo–
Pierce!
Splurt!
Splurt!
As the lizardmen were about to send another volley of tail attacks, they felt a stabbing pain in their backs. Leo's subordinates have arrived.
They had snuck up on the lizard men using the footwork Leo had taught them. It reduced the amount of noise their footsteps made by a significant degree. To the point where the lizardmen's movements were able to cover their incoming steps.
It was a miraculous technique.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
The monsters could not even react as they were decapitated. Leo's subordinates had made use of this opportunity to perfect their coordination with their respective pair. Well at least the 3 pairs that arrived first.
Leo, witnessing everything, couldn't help but smile at their performance. Seeing that no one on the team had received any injuries, it seemed as though their execution of his plan. It seemed like they were going to get accustomed to this type of combat easily.
As such he walked to them while relaxing his breathing. He wanted to congratulate them on a job well done.
With his relaxed approach, his subordinates heaved a sigh of relief. Not only because they had succeeded in their execution of Formation 3, but also at the fact that they survived.
They had seen how the three lizards fought with tails, it was deadly. If they hadn't killed their assigned targets, one swing of their tails would have inflicted grave injuries. It sent shivers down their spines just thinking of it.
Leo dealing with 5 of such creatures at once without even getting a scratch was truly amazing. Thus they, too, walked over so they could praise him.
Just as they were about to speak, a blue panel appeared before them.