Shackles
The surge of youths with crimson eyes flooded the battlefield. But, the targets they were looking for didn't seem to be anywhere to be found. All they saw were the littered and bloody bodies of their fellow Healing Arm members and a single silver armored man standing before a courtyard surrounded by four silver pillars.
Many of them were confused, but even more of them seemed to realize that their enemy was precisely this silver armored man.
"KILL HIM!" Therin's enraged roar shook those who were confused out of this state.
However, when they heard Therin call for murder, they were shocked. Though it wasn't like no one had ever died in a faction war, it was still rare. On top of that, it was quite frowned upon. These were the types of things the Elder's Council would step in to stop.
That said, while there were many who stood frozen, there were even more that didn't need to be told twice. Their egos had been poked and prodded at for too long, and it was already clear to them that a Division Head of their Arm had actually been crippled. This sort of humiliation wasn't something they were willing to let go, even if they weren't already in such a strung up state.
They charged forward like a tide, the ground rumbling as large swaths of Snow Force rippled throughout at the air.
Leonel's chest rose, a sizzling heat at his right hip threatening to tear a hole through his own body. But, for some reason, it felt good. It felt almost too good.
It fed off of Leonel's angst, his fury, his indifference. It swallowed up all that was him and churned out a result that fed into the very fabric of his King's Might.
These hundreds of youths? It just wasn't enough. Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.
BANG!
Leonel's foot rose and fell. In that moment, a tidal wave of earth shot out from the ground.
First, there was a sprinting set of spiderweb-like cracks, folding and bending the earth to Leonel's will. And then, in the next moment, they shot upward, crashing into the first line of charging Healing Arm warriors and throwing whatever semblance of unity and formation they had into absolute chaos.
Leonel's figure vanished. When he reappeared once more, the falling debris of earth sprinkled about him like the ashes of war. Without the immediate support of the man or woman next to them, the Healing Arm could only face the carnage they wrought.
Leonel's blades flashed, his body flickering and disappearing at will, only to appear and vanish once more. Arcs of blood and crimson followed his path, limbs and horrid screams leaving landmarks of his presence.
Leonel used the techniques of the Luxnix seamlessly one after another. It felt as though there were dozens of him and his every action incapacitated another. Blood flowed in rivers and bones formed the earth.
As the curtain of dirt finally descended and the vision of those around cleared to what was happening, half of the Healing Arm warriors had already been cut down, their life's blood fueling the soil beneath their immobile bodies.
A look of absolute horror was painted on the faces of those who headed the initial charge, at least those of them that had survived, anyway.
From the rooftop, Noah watched on, sighing every so often. He could tell at a glance that Leonel wasn't overpowering them with raw strength. If he tried to fight these many talents head on, he would have been cut down long ago. It was just that… Leonel was just so much smarter with how he used his strength.
Noah knew the techniques Leonel was using as well, he too had received those gifts.
was a technique that applied one's Internal Sight to trick the senses of others. It was ironically useless against those who purely relied on their five senses in battle, but which expert wouldn't subconsciously use their Internal Sight to boost their senses?
This overlay of what the body was recognizing and what one's Soul Force was seeing led to a cognitive dissonance that easy formed illusions of starlight in battle. The more powerful and deft one's control of their Internal Sight was, the more deadly the technique.
However, to use it with such skill, and especially against so many enemies, Leonel had to be capable of calculating the perspective of each and every person on the battlefield at the same time, only then would he be able to execute in the most optimal manner.
Simply put… He was like a machine. Noah had yet to see a swing of Leonel's blade not draw blood.
Leonel's gaze flickered with coldness, his every breath becoming so heated that steam billowed from his mouth. His skin reddened and his armor began to glow with a rosy silvery hue.
The temperature in his surroundings sky rocketed, yet Leonel only felt more and more comfortable.
Leonel's blade blocked a sword from one direction, his free hand hacking down and severing the forearm that carried it. His movements became faster and more fluid, his want for destruction and violence billowing off of him in waves.
The heat became so searing that the warriors of the Healing Arm couldn't get close to him without using Force Skins. However, their wants and needs didn't cross Leonel's mind in the slightest.
In that moment, a furious howl left his lips. It brought with it such momentum that violent concentric circles of pulsing air billowed from Leonel's mouth.
BANG!
Leonel's aura erupted, Force shattering the ground beneath his feet.
The momentum of a Tier 2 expert rose from him, shattering the barrier that had held him back and multiplying his strength several times over.
The shackles that held down Leonel's body were being loosened one after another, his howl carrying with it a scorching heat that rose into the skies.
The atmosphere seemed to be affected, rolling clouds of grey responding and slowly beginning to gather.
At that moment, several Division Heads of the Healing Arm finally reached the battlefield. When they saw the state of things, their eyes widened, a furious light sparking within their gaze.