Already?

Cornelius watched this skirmish with an odd flicker in his eyes.

'Already…?'

Maybe only he knew what exactly he meant by this. Or, more accurately, those who understood the difficulty of fighting on a Void Battlefield would all come to a very quick comprehension of exactly what he was baffled by.

…

Leonel's spear techniques flowed with a sort of smoothness it had never had before. This was the first time he had seriously used his spear since his battle with Myghell, and he could almost feel his every action singing, as though every slight movement carried with it a breath of fresh air and a purpose filled with life and vitality.

His four meter long spear left afterimages in the air, melding with the surrounding fog as though there was no separation between them at all.

Those that had managed to survive Leonel's sneak attack recovered quickly, brandishing their own weapons in retaliation. Leonel didn't hesitate to take on three of them, his blood pumping as his violet hair whipped about beneath his own sheer speed.

His foot planted hard against the ground, his body shooting forward.

For a moment, it looked as though he would crash right into a tree ahead of him. His three enemies cleverly used the congestion of the forest to their advantage, trying to recover from the sudden attack in time. But, that was when Leonel's spear showed its flexibility.

As though it had a mind of its own, it snaked around the tree from the left, appearing before the throat of the middle youth who suddenly found themselves frozen in place.

Leonel struck to kill, not showing even the slightest hint of mercy. Everything about his demeanor was oppressive and aggressive. He seemed to finally embody the true style of a spearman. His strikes were no longer bland. Though they still carried a calculative air, it also came with it a certain liveliness that couldn't be denied, as though it was prepared to read and adapt to any situation in a split moment.

"MOVE!"

Leonel's voice boomed. Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

The two to the side of the young man Leonel targeted reached out with their weapons to protect the throat of their comrade. But, when their weapons struck the tip of Leonel's spear, they suddenly felt as though an overwhelming mountain had crashed down upon them from above.

A strong flash of gold whipped outward, sending the flat of their blades careening against the throat of the companion they sought to protect and resulting in all three of them flying backwards as though a triplet of broken kites.

Leonel burst through the center of the barricade, his aura and movements becoming like a blinding torch for those to his back to follow.

Aina and Noah followed through, the former brandishing an ax of red-gold and the latter wielding a gorgeous blue saber. It was clear that this saber was given to Noah by Alienor, or else it was doubtful that it would be able to survive in such an atmosphere.

They were both just as ruthless as Leonel, Aina never having been a person who shied away from blood and gore and Noah being no less murderous.

What was different from this case in comparison to all others, though, was that the enemies they faced weren't canon fodder. In fact, they were unlike any enemy they had ever faced before. Even with the intent to kill, Leonel had actually failed to do so, and Aina and Noah were no different.

This place was where all the top talent of the Human Domain accumulated. They might have had their heads forcefully lowered and all their pride and aspirations watered down in the last several months, but for those had survived to this point, their strength had bloomed to a level it hadn't ever touched before.

Leonel knew this well. This was why he hadn't hesitated to use a sneak attack to get through, a sneak attack he knew they would have to take advantage of or else they would quickly find themselves on the losing side of this exchange.

The only regret Leonel had was that he hadn't managed to come across good enough materials to make a bow and he didn't have access to a bow he could use right now that wouldn't suffer under this Anarchic Force. He wasn't using the Quasi Life Grade Bow for obvious reason.

He knew that if he had had this bow, this battle would had ended even easier. In fact, in this fog, with his Third Awakening paired with his bowmanship, he would practically be untouchable.

The person who suffered the most from this, though, was Isac. Leonel obvious hadn't been able to make him a bow either, leaving him stuck with nothing more to use than his own hands and feet. Luckily, as a bowman, his movement techniques were still quite good as he had to maintain distance from enemies.

Leonel felt quite bad about this as he thought that if it wasn't for him, Isac would have probably been able to commission the creation of a bow from the smithy. Unfortunately, things didn't end up working out in this way.

Beyond this, Isac was most definitely reluctantly following Leonel. After all, Leonel had killed his cousin. The only reason he hadn't left was because if he let a moment of pride and hatred ruin his selection here, he would be letting both Ysac and his family down. He owed it to them to do his best to survive until the day he could get revenge…

Things weren't actually this simple, though.

Leonel would soon come to learn that these matters weren't as much his fault as he thought. Bowman had a very special status in the Void Palace, a status that even often faintly surpassed that of Craftsmen. It was also why the bow in Leonel's possession was so special… But this was a matter Leonel would likely find out sooner rather than later.

The group finally burst through the barricade, vanishing into the thick fog on the other side.

[More coming 10/05/22]