~SMASH~
While Foxxy and Max were busy fighting, Leon didn't do anything, he just observed them, analyzing the boss and talking to EGO to find a way to win.
[Winning is more important than their lives, ain't it?] EGO smiled.
"…" Leon didn't answer, but the sole fact he wasn't helping and instead preferred to analyze was enough of an indicative as to what he though, or maybe he just wasn't crazy enough to try AND RUSH AT AN UNKNOWN BOSS WHEN HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT ITS POWERS?!
And so when he finished his analysis, Max was already getting shredded by the boss.
[I think we should start fighting =)]
'Right…' Leon sighed, for some strange reason he didn't know of, seeing the death of two people in front of him didn't affect him, at least not as much as he thought.
And he wasn't alone.
"FOXXY!" Dan was literally only trying to get Foxxy back, as if he didn't care about the other two.
[Don't worry, it's part of being an awakener, now do what you need to do so that we can devour this DELICIOUS feast!] EGO stuck out his white tongue (which was also made of flames).
And so, fueled only by his desire to devour the boss, Leon dashed toward it while it was throwing Max away.
~JUMP, FWISH~
He jumped in the air, avoiding Sinful's gaze, then when the boss turned back in his direction, he punched it with all his strength, focusing all his crimson aura in his fists.
And there was no denying the impact was powerful.
~BOOM~
"Argh…" Sinful actually let a quick groan as he immediately took back control of the situation and punched Leon away with his free hand, his sheer size and endurance enough to not send him flying by Leon's attack.
~SLAM~
Leon crashed against one of the small walls of the tower, but he immediately got up: he had been hit so many times that his resistance was slowly building, plus his endurance stat had been upgraded.
[Sinful HP: 3847]
[HAHAHAHA, WE GOT HIM,] EGO laughed the moment he saw the boss's health, it had gone down by around 1200 points, meaning that Leon was actively able to hurt it, [Now just make sure to not die…]
The [Ascension Judge] had a decent amount of skills in his arsenal, yet all Leon had were his fists, so he would need to be creative if he wanted to beat it.
But right as he faced the monster… he heard a voice to his right.
"GOT YOU!" Dan sighed as he grabbed the bell from the ground, and as it had been 1 minute, he could now summon the golden fox again.
"I said it once already," yet Sinful wasn't going to let that slide, as he INSTANTLY dashed toward Dan, "You failed."
~KICK~
He kicked Dan away like a football, and the blond-haired boy was sent away, past the walls of the tower and thus falling down back to the ground, a certain death awaiting him.
"AAAAAHHHHH-" Dan kept screaming until...
~THUD~
A disgusting sound echoed again.
But Dan had Foxxy that he could summon, and there were more people below, so he should be fine, right?
"Hah…" and so Leon kept smiling, "Is that… all?"
[Haha… a true one on one now!] EGO was happy.
All it did right now was guaranteeing their success in getting the final hit, and so both Leon and EGO couldn't be happier, all their emotions only replaced by that 'hunger' of theirs, shrouding the boy's 'sadness' and 'worry'.
"This is your final judgement," but Sinful took his stance again, the one where he places the golden blade horizontally in front of his face, "Let it begin."
Leon clenched his fists, the crimson aura flaring around him like a wildfire.
"Let's do this," he muttered, adrenaline and hunger pumping through his veins to power him up.
Sinful stood tall, golden sword at the ready, his gaze unyielding.
"Your defiance will lead to your demise," the Ascension Judge intoned, voice like thunder.
Leon darted forward, channeling all his focus into his next attack.
And then…
~SWISH, PUNCH~
He closed the short distance between him and the boss, then threw a jab, aiming for Sinful's torso.
"…" but the boss simply just blocked the attack by positioning his blade as to make the fist hit its surface, "Useless."
"Judgmental Strike!" he decided to use his most basic skill again, swinging his blade a few times in Leon's direction.
But for the first time…
~FWISH~
Leon avoided the strikes by simply backing away, rolling, or sidestepping.
"Interesting…" Sinful seemed to become more serious, "Finally someone that doesn't just take all of it."
[Come on, partner, you know what to do =)]
And so right as Sinful swung sideways again, aiming to cut the human in half…
~FWISH~
Leon, with unwavering determination, ducked under the blade, then uppercut Sinful.
[+1 progress for "Basics of Countering"]
"Oh-?" yet the boss wasn't bothered again, though he did receive around 900 points of damage from that attack, "Very good."
At this point, the battle was kind of underwhelming for Leon after seeing Sinful do all the crazy shit against his friends.
"…"
[…]
"Alright," Sinful suddenly began to smile, "You want to play? Let's play," and suddenly, the judge lifted his golden blade upward, precisely toward the crimson moon, "Now, even the sky shall judge you."
~ZAP, BOOM~
A crimson zap of lightning hit the tip of his blade, and it went from its original golden color to a crimson blood one, with particles of red lightning around it.
In addition to that, Sinful's wings turned completely dark, very different from the original white color.
And lastly, his eyes were now burning with crimson aura.
"And I thought you were an angel," Leon smiled.
"I am the judge."
Sinful went from angelic figure to demon in less than ten seconds, and so that meant that the REAL deal was now.
'Is that what they call "second phases of bosses"?' Leon remembered something about that in class.
[Yeah, you should REALLY be careful now,] EGO wasn't smiling anymore, and Leon immediately lost his too as his companion wasn't as confident anymore.
~STEP, STEP~
Sinful, who was on the other end of the top of the tower, began walking toward Leon, his holy aura replaced by demonic one, taking over his hands, legs, chest, and his entire body as he held his blade with one hand only, the other surrounded by red aura.
"I have a question for you," Sinful didn't stop walking toward the human, spinning his blade playfully as if not taking any of this seriously, "Please answer truthfully."
"Go on," Leon was also positioned to counter or riposte in case of a quick attack.
And then…
"Do you… TRULY believe, that you can beat me alone?" the aura in Sinful's eyes grew stronger, "All your companions are gone, and you are now alone."
[…] but as Leon looked at EGO, who sat on his shoulder, he could see that the small ball of fire wasn't impressed.
And to be honest, neither was he.
"I don't have to believe anything," Leon spoke, "Our strength and skills will determine who is the winner," this was his answer.
"Very well," Sinful nodded.
And then…
"Goodbye, human," Sinful stopped for a few seconds, as if charging up something.
And…
~FWISH~
"CRIMSON STRIKE," he closed the distance between the two of them, his blade right beside Leon's face before he could even realize it, "This was fun while it lasted human."
"But unfortunately for you…"
"You failed."