Fleeced
Keiza immediately saw through the trajectories of Leonel's throws, but when she tried to communicate it, her pupils constricted. She picked up a lag in her actions and understood that she wouldn't be able to relay the information in time.
"Enemy attack! Prepare yourselves!"
Those around Keiza understood that something had gone wrong, but they weren't too shocked by it. They were all geniuses in their own right and they had enough experience to understand that Keiza's abilities weren't infallible. They were still ready to react.
However, when Leonel's strikes came into view, they were caught completely off guard nonetheless.
Leonel had purposely sent his first volley from outside a range he was comfortable with. As a result, it had lulled them all into a false sense of security, believing that Leonel's strikes were normal and easy to handle. But, this volley was completely unlike the last.
They moved through the air as though they had minds of their own. Sometimes daggers would diverge, and at other times they were suddenly clang off of each other, shooting off in directions completely opposing to the trajectories they had originally been following.
Toward this sight, even Keiza pupils constricted. They had been following Leonel's trail for a very long time now, so, Keiza had, of course, been focused on comprehending his abilities. It was only after grasping all of this that she took the risk to try to subtly influence Leonel's mind.
This was why Keiza hadn't panicked after Leonel shattered her control. No genius of the Golden Token level would be so easily swayed by her suggestion, especially not in this environment. This was why she had gathered up all the information she needed first.
The trouble was that after her long observation, she had concluded that the limit of Leonel's range was about five meters. This was surprising, but still made logical sense to her. After all, maybe the only person unaware of how important long ranged attacks were in the Void Palace was Leonel himself.
However, what Keiza hadn't grasped was the fact that Leonel had been purposely reining in his range all this time so as not to draw too much attention to himself. Keiza had made a small concession for this possibility, but the idea that Leonel's range was as much as 20 meters didn't even cross her mind. Why…?
Because it should have been impossible!
By the time Keiza awakened from her shock, the bodies of many of her comrades had been pierced completely through. Even those that managed to deflect and protect themselves ended up in sorry positions, allowing the hoard of beasts around them to lash out and take advantage. Another three of her comrades were severely injured in this way even before she reacted.
Keiza's blue gaze became steely. Leonel had purposely not targeted her because he knew he would need at least a bow or a true throwing weapon to make a difference. However, this lack of danger had made her even a step later to react than she normally would have been.
Keiza had already had an elevated opinion of Leonel. But, at that moment, it raised another several levels.
Her arms flared outward, seven feather shaped weapons appearing to hover around her head, shoulders and arms as though they had minds of their own.
The moment Leonel burst through the final line of fog and appeared before her eyes, she reacted, four of them flying forth with blinding speed and three remaining back to defend. Her hair seemed to gain an extra glow to it, her skin shimmering like gems. Content is property © .
Leonel's spear spun in his hands, his left palm finding its way back to its shaft and clamping downward.
DING! DING! DING! DING!
The rotation struck away all four feather blades, but their pursuit was relentless, stifling Leonel's forward momentum in just a single volley.
At the same time, those that had survive Leonel's initial onslaught rebuffed a tide of beasts before beginning to attack Leonel and Aina from the side.
"Don't encircle him. Remain where you are and attack from there." Keiza coldly commanded.
There was a biting sharpness to her current self that hadn't been there before, but no one dared to ignore her words.
Leonel himself already felt that he had underestimated the effort he would need in this exchange. His forward momentum had already stopped and to his back, there were more beasts. Aina had already turned back to deflect their attacks along with the support of his tendrils, but if things continued like this, they would end up just helping Keiza and the others to clear the beasts until they reached the safe zone.
Leonel had to admit that Keiza was very clever. Her choice not to encircle them was perfect, forcing Leonel and Aina to take a brunt of the pressure off of them all while facing their attacks.
Leonel had chosen to strike first, not wanting to be taken advantage of. But, he realized they would lose more than they gained by making this a long, drawn out battle.
At the same time, the second group that had been following them seemed to be making a move, picking up speed as they cut a path toward Leonel's people and making the situation far more complicated. This group happened to be one containing the two Libra family brothers…
"It seems you've made a mistake in targeting the wrong group."
Leonel's gaze narrowed. "You made it so that I would attack you and not them."
Keiza smiled sweetly. "Handsome and smart. You could say that they paid for my services to … push you in the wrong direction."
"How much did they pay you?"
"Oh my, are you asking me to sell myself again? That would make me feel so cheap."
Aina suddenly found herself becoming very irritated. If it wasn't for these damned restrictions she was under thanks to this Anarchic Force, she would have already sliced this succubus in half.
"How much?" Leonel pressed again, his voice cold.
He was clearly being targeted and that made things troublesome. If he was alone, this matter would be simple to handle, but he had people to protect and he was running out of time. The worst part was that he didn't know what the exchange rates were just yet, so it was very likely that he could get fleeced.
Wise Star Order's laughter echoed in his head. The old man was enjoying this too much.