: NOT BAD

'Indeed… Why is it all so slow now… That must be why…'

Leonel was unaware of the vast difference between the Fifth and Sixth Dimensions. But, someone moving so fast that even his own Internal Sight couldn't keep up with it was enough to lay it out to bare right in front of him. It was clear that Amery was on a level so far beyond himself that it was impossible to fathom, and that was even while being weighed down by four rounds worth of Vital Star Force. copyrighted © content.

Now that he knew, he realized why his intuition had been screaming at him to run all this time. But… running was impossible. The moment he took a step back, he would be finished.

Leonel's spear was held between both hands in the most defensive stance that he could muster. And yet, Amery had a complete disregard for it as he attacked as though his spear wasn't there at all. However, it was exactly this disregard that gave Leonel the faintest hope for survival.

Leonel's arm exploded. This wasn't a metaphor, it wasn't a fancily worded set of prose, but rather an accurate description of exactly what happened.

Right at his elbow, Leonel's arm imploded into a rain of blood and gore. It was such a vicious, cold hearted, blood curdling wound that even Amery's brow furrowed lightly even as his sword continued downward.

However, it was this explosion that erupted Leonel's arm into movement, arching his spear upward in a move that was seemingly intent on forcing it into the path of Amery's blade.

Amery furrowed brow smoothed out just as quickly as it formed. To him, this didn't matter in the slightest. He would show Leonel the difference between the two of them as clear as day.

His wooden spear was of a common grade, it couldn't even be ranked among Fourth Dimensional weapons and even Earth's Third Dimensional cold weapons would be able to slash it apart ten out of ten times. At the same time, Leonel was holding a double sided Quasi Silver spear. The difference in quality was as clear as day. It should be a given that the latter would block the former…

And yet, Amery knew felt that anyone would be a fool to believe such a thing.

A Quasi Silver weapon? It might as well have been a piece of tinfoil to him.

He had already given Leonel a chance to live. Since he didn't want it, this would be his death bed.

Amery's sword continued to descend, an air of confidence hanging around him. One could tell from the aura he exuded that no matter what stood before him, he would slice it apart. It was an air that matched Leonel's King's Might and even far surpassed it, and yet it wasn't contingent on subordinates or a number of them, it was entirely reliant on Amery's belief in himself and his blade.

'Goodbye.' Pa nda

Novel BANG!

Amery's expression suddenly changed. It was just a small flicker of light within his irises, but it was a change nonetheless.

Leonel's hand exploded into a mist of blood, his bone sprinkling down like ash and his flesh falling like lumps of processed meat. In that very instant, what had once been the hand of an Elite Force Crafter had become nothing but a mangled mess, impossible to see the start or finish of.

Leonel flew backward like an arrow leaving a bow string, a side of his body completely collapsing to the point that his inner organs threatened to spill out. Just a casual strike from Amery left him in a half dead state, his breathing hardly holding on. If it wasn't for the fact he had entered the Control level of his Ability Index, allowing him to force his inner organs to stay functioning as best he could, he really might have died to just that single strike.

Leonel crashed along the road, sliding back to the point he landed on its very edge. Even though the Vital Star Force within him was trying to quickly fuel Leonel's cells to begin repairing themselves, they found that no amount of energy they provided was enough.

Something was far too special about Amery's Force. It seemed to hinder Leonel from being able to heal himself, at least through 'normal' means like this. It was only after Leonel began to fight back against Amery's aura with his own King's Might that things began to shift. But, even then, it was only because it was a casual swing on Amery's part.

"Hm… Not bad." Amery spoke.

He seemed to truly mean his words, there wasn't a hint of derision or disdain hidden within them. He was actually praising Leonel.

"You knew that your spear wouldn't be enough so you used the ring to block even at the cost of your hand. I believe it was the Morales family that had the Spear Domain ring, right? Hands are quite important to you Force Crafters, I guess I don't have to feel too bad about you surviving that strike, then."

Leonel didn't respond. Even now, as he sat at the edge of the road, a step away from surviving, his senses had never stopped locking onto Amery. This time, however, he used his Auspicious Air and kept his body in a state of near death, slowing down everything to an extreme.

It had taken a few seconds for Amery to speak those words. And yet, to Leonel, it felt like it had taken him hours to finish.

"Well, I guess you've earned it, then. Next time we meet, I definitely won't make the same mistake again. The Domain Rings shouldn't be in the hands of people who can't appreciate them."

Leonel didn't say a single word. Even with his mangled hand, he managed to pin the Spear Domain ring between the ground meat that was it and his badly caved in chest.

He rolled over the edge of the road, just barely dodging a secret strike of Amery's, the Spear Domain Ring tightly clenched to his heart.

"You dodged that one too, huh? Not bad! Not bad, indeed!" Amery's laughter was all Leonel could hear as his body whistled through the abyss below. "Make sure to remember my name well, I am Amery, the Sword Deity! When next we meet, I'll take your life!"