MISTAKE
Minerva should have been enraged by this realization, but she wasn't. Her state of mind had completely changed and her crown only shone more resplendently.
Because from the start, she too had never taken Leonel seriously, and it had caused her to suffer not just one loss, but two.
It was humiliating that a junior dared to treat her so casually, but she also didn't have the right to complain. Hadn't she been the one to take the losses? This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.
In that case, let her crush him at his very peak.
With a wave of her hand, a holy light descended and a strong surge of light came down.
Leonel didn't dodge it, nor did his expression change.
A golden feather danced, pinned into Minerva's flowing pink diamond hair, and soon Leonel was back to peak condition.
Even if this treasure wasn't a God Armament, it likely wasn't far off. And as the descendants of the Minerva... Leonel wouldn't be surprised if they had true God Armaments waiting in the wings to be deployed.
"That was a mistake," Leonel said coolly.
Minerva didn't respond immediately, drawing a line through the air with two fingers. The golden feather in her hair fluttered out and fell into the embrace of her fingers with a delicate touch.
"This golden feather is known as the Ambrosia Feather. It can fully heal a person from even a state of near death, but it takes time to charge. It uses the number one Light Force in all of existence, Holy Force."
She waved the feather in her hand and it grew, sharpening into an elegant sword, three fingers wide and just over a meter long if the handle wasn't included.
With just a gentle swing, it cut through space as though through butter.
"For much of my life, I ignored all my other affinities because my one obsession was with the Minerva Race. I tossed away everything else, even ignoring my own Holy Force Innate Node for the sake of progressing my Dream Force, which I have a far weaker affinity in.
"Unfortunately, or I guess fortunately for you, that means my Holy Force is only at the Higher Life State right now and still needs much more time to progress.
"My Sword Force is also lacking for the same reason. I've heard that Golden Force supposedly has the strongest piercing power of all the Light Forces. But..."
She swung the feather sword again and space split once again. The aura of her Middle Life State Sword Force spread like ripples in the water, not allowing the spatial rift to close.
"... I'm not sure if I believe that."
Minerva slowly lowered her sword and pointed it toward the ground. Far down below, despite her not discharging any Force, the ground splintered as though a thin needle had just run through it.
Just from her gentle action of lowering it, a fine line of blood ran across Leonel's chest despite the fact the blade had never touched him.
"Do you know why I'm telling you all this?"
Leonel looked into her eyes, his gaze still cold and indifferent.
"It's because I know too much about you. I know about your Innate Nodes, I know about your Wise Star Order status, I know your strengths, your weaknesses, like the back of my hand.
"If we fought like this, it would be unfair to you. So I will give you the information you couldn't gather yourself."
Leonel still didn't respond, looking into the woman's reflective pink eyes as her wings suddenly spread far and wide.
They had grown larger, spreading out from five meters in both directions as she stood there elegantly and without a care.
Runes began to pulse to life on them and suddenly all the Force in the region seemed to have been banished, as though they had been chained down by a mighty deity.
Her crown flickered above her head, and her aura towered into the skies.
In a sudden rush, the world trembled and an even pressure appeared all around Leonel, pressing into every square inch of his skin with the same exact force.
Leonel finally moved, stretching out a hand to the side.
Tattoos began forming all across his body once again and tufts of white and black fur came out from the waistband of his sweats.
Rattling golden braces appeared around his ankles and wrists, while a black chain of tiger-blackened tiger teeth danced wildly in the wind around his neck.
A halo appeared to his back and his aura seemed to have changed completely.
And yet, the entire focus of the world seemed to be on his outstretched arm.
In it, a bow slowly manifested from his palm.
On both ends, it had the golden-red feather of a Celestial Ember. Its body was made of a gorgeous white leather that could have only been from a Celestial Storm, and its handle was carved out from the finest diamond crystal, reflecting a rainbow of colors.
Despite only being three meters apart, Leonel casually raised the bow and aimed it at Minerva.
The twin Celestial Ember feathers flexed and a sudden curve of flames became the bow's bowstring.
Leonel gently placed a finger on the bowstring and pulled back.
Space fractured, and an arrow seemed to be carved out of it. The blackened tooth of a White Spectral Tiger became its tip.
Minerva's eyes narrowed.
"Bringing out a bow when we are so close? You really don't fear death."
She had never heard of Leonel using a bow. This was the very first time.
It was like Leonel had brought it out on purpose to make fun of her earlier words without saying a thing about them.
She originally believed that he was still as immature as before, more worried about optics than anything else.
But then she felt that aura lock onto her.
The scent of death loomed in the air.
"I told you already..." Leonel spoke lightly for the third time in their exchange. "... That was a mistake."
Leonel loosed his arrow.