Boom!
Above the sea, a terrifying roar suddenly exploded, and several figures were seen flying through the sky like birds.
With every step in the void, an explosive transparent ring of airwaves burst out, allowing them to move gracefully through the air.
In the midst of these airwaves, Sumarokov emerged, muscles bulging, his upper body bare. He raised his double chain swords, now blackened, and slashed downward.
In an instant, two terrifying golden slashes, each dozens of meters wide, tore through the sky.
The others, each wielding a cross sword, swung theirs down in unison.
Countless flying slashes filled the air, densely packed and overwhelming, as though they intended to slice through the sea itself.
Their target: Leon.
Leon stood on the roiling, boiling sea, wearing only shorts, a shining cross sword made of golden particles in his hand.
Faced with the overwhelming storm of flying slashes, his right hand tightened around his weapon, sweeping, slashing, and blocking at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The slashes, powerful enough to cut through mountains and rivers, were blocked and deflected by Leon in the simplest and swiftest movements.
Dazzling sparks burst out at every point of impact. The deflected slashes crashed into the sea, causing explosive water pillars to rise, filling the sky with heavy rainfall.
Once this onslaught ended, Wanda, Sergei, and the others appeared around Leon, descending from the sky at some unknown time. Without mercy, they launched another attack.
They charged across the surface of the sea, moving at nearly subsonic speeds, leaving long, rapid waves in their wake.
With his heightened sense of awareness, Leon had already sensed their approach.
Facing the frenzied siege from Sergei and the others, he remained calm, resisting their attacks with nothing but his own strength.
Boom!
With a single sword strike, Leon sent Wanda flying a thousand meters away.
Wanda, leading the charge, ignored the seawater soaking her hair and sticking it to her cheeks. She continued speeding forward, gripping her sword in her right hand while extending her left hand.
A giant red hand, formed from chaotic magical energy, grabbed the thousand-meter flying slash and violently shook it.
Bang!
The flying slash shattered into pieces.
Pietro, Sergei, and the others sharpened their focus, accelerating once more as they passed Wanda and rushed toward Leon.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
This was a battle beyond imagination, a clash that subverted the human worldview. Over a dozen fighters displayed the results of months, or even years, of intense training. Their swordsmanship, combat skills, energy manipulation, and tactical coordination had reached their peak.
Every flying slash impacted the sea with explosive force. Each collision caused airwaves powerful enough to create massive craters in the ocean's surface. The sea churned violently, transforming into a chaotic expanse of whirlpools and towering waves. The entire area, stretching for dozens of kilometers, became a death zone, and all marine creatures instinctively fled from the impending disaster.
On a distant island cliff, three young girls stood, witnessing the shocking battle with wide, unblinking eyes. Though they had not yet been injected with the super soldier serum, their use of Haki allowed them to barely follow the combat. Even so, the intensity of the battle felt like a real life-or-death struggle.
Despite being surrounded, Leon fought back fiercely, mercilessly kicking Sumarokov. Even though Sumarokov instinctively used his Armament Haki, he was sent flying thousands of meters, coughing up blood. Yet, without hesitation, he returned to the fray. To be honest, a battle like this would terrify any normal thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl, but Clarice, Alina, and Polina had long grown accustomed to it.
Pushkin, on the other hand, was a different story. His precocious eyes shone with enthusiasm and longing. His blood boiled as his fighting spirit surged, almost overflowing, but he hated his lack of strength and seniority. He yearned for the same power as his older brothers and sisters and craved to be part of the battle he was witnessing. But he was still young and not yet in his golden period of physical growth, forced to watch as his siblings grew stronger before him.
Even Yuriko, who had joined the group later, had already surpassed him in strength. In this battle, she played a crucial role. Pushkin's heart pounded as he watched the fight, having stood there for two whole days. That's right, the battle between Leon, Sergei, and the others had raged on for two full days, seemingly without end.
No one took a moment to rest. From Wanda and Natasha to Sergei, Sumarokov, and Yuriko, they all had one goal: to kill Leon. Because when Leon found an opening, he would show no mercy.
Everyone bore injuries. Natasha and Wanda had sections of their hair cut off by flying slashes after failing to dodge in time. Sergei and Pietro had wounds from finger guns, while others carried long bloodstains from kicks and slashes. Yuriko fared better, her unparalleled self-healing ability sparing her from scars.
But Pushkin had seen everything from the beginning, and he knew just how close Yuriko had come to being cut in half by Leon's sword.
Wanda and the others had narrowly escaped when they surrounded Leon. The battle had been intense, and it was clear that this confrontation was Leon's final assessment of their training over the past three months.
No one felt fear, no one gave up. Their determination to fight was unshakable, as if the fighting spirit had been ingrained in their very bones and souls—even with Leon as their opponent.
Boom!
As yet another day passed, a terrifying, tsunami-like force erupted from Leon, while over a dozen equally powerful auras exploded like volcanic eruptions in response. The clash of these energies turned the sea and sky, stretching for kilometers, into a chaotic, bloody purgatory. Red and black lightning streaked across the heavens, and dark clouds loomed ominously overhead.