The roars of the people around us thundered throughout the area, with some jumping in excitement.
"Be prepared; it will be a great battle," Leo said as he raised his hands sideways; a powerful gust of wind built up around his arms, causing an apparent disruption all over him. "This is how I use my Wind magic."
Yeah, it would be very painful to get hit with that thing.
Without delay, he bent his knees and jumped towards me while generating a strong gushing sound.
Due to the activation of his skill, his movement became far faster than before.
Does that mean all the damage he took earlier, even before activating his skill, is still counted for his power-up?
I shifted my gaze at him while he was surging towards me.
There's only one way to prove it.
"Warrior's rage."
His eyes instantly widened the moment he heard what I just said.
At the same time, I felt an instant surge of power spreading throughout my body, which greatly boosted my reaction time, so I easily evaded the incoming devastating attack.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Leo shouted as he passed through me, and I avoided his attack.
The surroundings didn't become slow, and it was still as fast as always; I just became ridiculously fast!
He's still faster than me, but the shock of seeing that someone was using his skill greatly stunned him.
I activated my electricity magic, covered my hand with it, and punched his face using the strength of his own skill.
It's a full-force punch coated with electricity magic, but it's just enough to make him fly out a few meters away but not take him down. I immediately received the physical boost due to the attack and felt my strength rising as my body became much lighter, but I knew I was not the only one who received this power-up.
Leo removed his hand from his bleeding nose and looked at me with his menacing eyes while grinning. "So that's your ability. You've got me very surprised there."
Man, I feel he's becoming stronger and stronger; I can see the 'you are dead meat' aura floating around him.
"It should be illegal to have such skill."
He bent his knees for another attack. "Yeah? Said the person who literally just copied it."
Once more, he rushed towards me while generating a louder, wind-gushing sound.
He's really out for blood this time!
I activated my Ice magic to block his way because even while using his ridiculous skill, he was still far faster and physically stronger than me!
But he just brushed them off like nothing; it didn't even manage to delay him!
Do you think I need to use Hephaestus?
[Unadvisable due to low mana and absence of a weapon]
Can't I use part of my body instead, like my fist?
[Your body won't be able to withstand the heat. Hephaestus needed a weapon to channel the hotness of its fire]
Maybe there could be another way!
"Don't lose focus on me, Troy!"
He easily reached me to counter him, and I activated my shield to stop his attack somehow and prepared my electric-coated fists while I thought of a plan to defeat him. The shield stopped his attack for a bit, but I heard a familiar cracking sound. Damn! What kind of attack could break a shield?
Most probably, physical strength.
I deactivated my shield and tried to punch him.
It didn't go as planned.
I managed to land two punches in his face, but in return, I received a punch that hit like a freaking truck and threw me away while spinning in the air like a top.
But, before I fell, I managed to toughen my knees and keep myself up while looking at him. Blood oozed from my mouth.
Damn, that was freaking hurt!
[Converting mana to hea-]
Don't Cherubim! I have a plan. It's the only way I know!
[But-]
Trust me.
Once more, I received another ridiculous amount of physical boost, and, at this point, I can now easily lift a car using only one of my hands; however, the bad thing is, I'm not the only one who is. I don't know how much physical strength he has since I can't see his status. This guy is already a monster before even receiving those boosts!
I heard his loud laugh as he continued his assault on me.
"You are unbelievable! Remarkable!"
I felt the intense pain of his fist pushing through my face; in return, I punched his chin up and his abdomen with my electricity-coated fist and blasted my Water magic the moment he backed off a little and unleashed a thunder strike.
However, he came back much stronger and attacked me again.
We traded multiple blows of powerful punches and kicks for a few minutes, but as the battle took longer, our attacks became more devastating.
The ground around us shattered as we punched each other.
I could feel the intense pain as I received his punches, as if my body was breaking apart, but it was still intact and continued to become even more powerful than before.
[Warning: Your body has reached the limit!]
Hang in there, Cherubim. A little bit more. I need a lot of Warrior Rage.
I chased my breath as I leaned my hands on my knees while looking at my enemy doing the same thing.
Unlike me, who's definitely making a 'this is a nightmare' face right now, Leo was smiling enthusiastically while looking at me.
"Troy, after this, do you want to work for me? You will be a great addition to my faction."
I toughened my knees to stand up properly. Yes, my body became much stronger as the battle went on, but the fatigue that my body received remained, making it fall apart.
If I lose this fight, my stepping stone to freeing and uniting this town will be futile.
Our invincible body is already on its limit due to the destructive damage we just received that we can no longer contain.
I raised my shivering arms. "What a coincidence. I'm thinking of asking you the same after beating you."
He laughed. "Really?" He raised his arms, and just like me, his knees were already shivering as well. "I'll take that into consideration."
"Looks like this is the end." I activated my electricity magic and covered my hands with them, covering the area around us in ice at the same time.
He smiled. "It's not; this is just the great beginning."
For the last time, he rushed towards me and brushed off all the ice spikes rushing towards him, as expected from his current strength.
Physical capabilities-wise, I can't win against him; however, the good thing is, I am a mage, and I have a trump card in my sleeve.
At once, I melted all the ice around us and immediately imprisoned him while charging my electricity magic to slow him down as I executed my plan.
He already knew that I would do it again. But he's still doing fine, as expected from a veteran.
I am already exhausted from taking a single step. The fact that he can still run is apparent proof that he's far stronger than me, physical capability-wise.
Cherubim, channel all my mana in my fists!
[Roger]
This better work, or I'll end up meeting the Creator in no time.
With my last strength, I unleashed Hephaestus from my shoulder down to my fists. It was painfully hot! It's like I deepen my hands into boiling magma, and I can feel my skin burning to a crisp.
Leo ran fast as ever and charged towards me.
"Warrior Rage Hephaestus!"
We met each other's punch with his fist coated with wind magic and mind with leveled Fire magic with the full stacked-up warrior rage.
There was an explosion first then crumbling off the ground due to the impact of punches as our feet tried hard to stop our bodies as punches collided at a speed no normal eye could see. As I poured my physical strength on each punch I made, Hephaestus Flame spread into Leo's fists, swallowing his common wind.
[Confirmed: Hephaestus skill Passive Magic unlock!]
[Notice: Hephaestus's passive ability intensifies a physical attack, increasing its damage while dealing with flame magic. With this passive skill, it acquired evolved fire magic resistance.]
I knew it would work!
I poured my remaining strength and mana into my fists and invaded Leo's attack, who seemed to slow down a bit. I took this chance and punched him in the gut twice, which sent him flying while on fire. I saw his clothes and his skin burning with Hephaestus' Flame, which a common fire magic can't.
The entire place was shrouded in silence, and everyone just stared at me while looking at the flying, burning Leonidas.
I couldn't help but exhale when I saw Leo land on the ground, unconscious.
Then, the screams of the spectators roar upon seeing him.
When my rage and Hephaestus vanished, I felt like I couldn't even move now.
"Oh. It seems like... I won-"
The next thing I felt was my body falling to the ground due to extreme exhaustion.