Viers was running at a faster speed than an Olympics athlete. From behind him, Leon pursued using all he had but the distance did not shrink as much as he’d hoped. Leon was still faster but only by a little bit, but he didn’t seem to be well for he was still bleeding from his gut.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong? Can't catch me?” The fat boy taunted.

After a while, Leon was considering his next action, unconcerned by Viers’s jeer.

If I fought him now, I’m certain I would win… but he ran! And he’s fast, even with this Arte active, my advantage in speed isn't significant. He wants me to waste my time, I shouldn't bother with him and help my friends fight the Ghoul.

Viers was smiling, he knew what Leon was thinking. Viers shouted an offer that Leon couldn't refuse.

“If you didn't chase me, I'm going to attack the houses on the road and kill the people there, especially the women and children! Huahahaha!”

“Urg! You, you… fiend! I won't let you!” Leon was torn between one choice and another, he wore a pained expression.

There! No hero can refuse this threat. A hero’s brain is wired to never back down from something like this! But there are two ways things would go from here. Either he continues chasing me and worsening his own situation or he gets some nonsense power-up and becomes strong enough to beat me! I must be wary of the latter.

Viers saw Leon took out some kind of potion and drink it. Seeing this, Viers was smiling.

...HP potion? Heh, looks like his plot armor isn't so thick that he’s impossible to defeat. Now I only need to wait until he burned out!

Although Leon unleashed his trump card Arte, it didn’t mean his injuries were magically healed. For a normal human, Leon’s injury would be fatal but with reasons unknown to Viers, Leon could still fight.

The potion was from the church and it was a high-quality potion but it didn’t mean all his injuries were gone after he drank it. Ultimately, it was more like a first aid treatment. Leon shouldn’t be moving his body intensely at this point but Viers forced him to.

And that super mode of his, if he didn’t have a broken cheat, he couldn’t sustain that Arte for too long! It burdened his body or it had humongous Victa consumption or had a time limit. Whatever the case, he won’t be able to continue indefinitely!

The chase went on, Leon let out a couple of long-ranged Arte but Viers dodged it with ease. Before long, the scenario in Viers’s head happened, Leon slowed down. The visual effect of his Arte disappeared and he was visibly more tired than before, struggling to keep up with him.

Got him!

“Hahaha, your life is mine!”

Viers laughed and turned back to Leon. Viers intended to finish the job… or so other people would think. He moved closer to bait Leon to attack him! He himself was currently pretending to be a villain who went for the killing blow, but Viers was actually going to deliver a counter for Leon’s attack.

When he got close enough, the dead-tired eyes of Leon glinted with life once more. Leon yelled while delivering a thrust at the approaching Viers.

“Arte — Thundering Lion’s Might!!”

“!”

Viers was startled, he was prepared for a regular Arte but an ultimate skill was another story.

Did he use that Arte a second time in a row? What about the cooldown? This type of ultimate technique must have cooldown time before it could be used again! Do the rules don’t apply to him because he’s a hero? Fuck! But don’t think I’m a mook Cultist A!

Using his left hand, Viers deflected the thrust that was going straight to his chest. Leon’s sword ended up buried at Viers’s left shoulder, the left hand that acted as the sacrificial limb also had a slash wound so deep that it reached his bone. The masked Viers screamed in pain but his right hand wasn’t idle.

“Arte — Water Slash!”

“What!?”

Leon was surprised his killing blow failed, when he saw the eyes behind the mask of the young cultist right in front of him; he shuddered by the coldness of Viers’s killing intent. Leon felt the cold steel was slashing at his own neck. But he had overcome a few brushes with death, therefore, he didn’t freeze for long. Leon immediately readying his next Arte.

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“Mu!?”

Viers’s Arte empowered sword reached its target but it didn’t go as he expected. The sensation he felt on his hand was strange; it didn’t feel as if he was slashing flesh and bones but it was as if Leon’s neck was made of steel.

Leon’s Arte enhanced his toughness to the point Viers’s elementary Arte wasn’t enough to inflict any significant damage. Let alone decapitated him, Viers didn’t even cut his artery. Only a thin slit of red on his enemy’s skin was the result of his efforts.

Then how about this!

Seeing his attack ineffective, Viers immediately changed his tactics. Viers aimed to attack another place but Leon wasn’t going to silently stand there. Their attacks reached each other at the same time.

“Arte — Thundering Strike!”

“Balls Buster!”

Leon’s fist was coated with lightning and struck Viers’s stomach while Viers used his leg to soccer ball kick the vital point of a male.

“GAAAHHGH!”

“AAAAHHHH!!”

Viers was blown away, he felt as if his internal organs were turned into mush. He spat out blood and dyed the inside of his mask red, the rest of the blood was dripping to the outside. From the outside, it was as if Viers’s Hannya mask was spewing blood.

Even with the pain he drowned in, Viers felt satisfaction from hitting Leon’s balls, he was smiling a bit even while coughing blood.

Harden THAT, if you can… heh… cough, cough…

Leon fell like a puppet with its strings cut, both of his hands were covering his crotch. He rolled left and right while his saliva came out from his mouth, his eyes only showed the whites. His Thundering Lion’s Might effect was broken.

Ten seconds later, Viers got up and dragged his battered body to his fallen enemy, one step at a time.

Thanks to the healing factor, I could recover quite fast… at least enough to move a bit. Have to… deal the finishing blow.

After Viers was close enough, Leon surprised him again.

“Arte — Lightning Cage!”

Four thick pillars of lightning sprouted from the ground. From the pillars, tens of smaller lighting arcs came out. Viers and Leon were inside a cage as wide as a boxing ring, the pillars were ten meters high and all four sides were covered by yellow crackling lightning arcs. Viers had no way out.

Shit! Battlefield type Arte? How could a warrior-type like him use this kind of Arte? Fucking plot armor… What should I do? I can’t run away and my Victa is almost dry. This is really, really bad.

Leon was already standing, he looked in pain but determined.

“This is the end, cultist, you’re really strong. Impressive will and skill despite being a few years younger than me. Such a shame, you chose to serve evil… you could be so much more.” Leon held his sword in front of him, his breath was heavy.

“Says the one that can toss high-level Artes like candies… I already put a deep hole in your stomach, made you waste a lot of Victa by maintaining your super-state while chasing me, kicked off your balls half a stadium away, and I still get pushed this far…” Viers felt a bit dejected, his shoulders were visibly fallen down when he sighed.

“I thought I already did all that I can to get this strong, to think it still far from enough… looks like I need a lot of power-ups before my next fight.” Viers said while raising only his right arm, his left shoulder and arm were bleeding and Viers couldn’t move them.

“You won’t get the opportunity, Arte — Thundering Lion’s Might!!!” Leon invoked his technique with a loud and confident voice.

“WHAT THE FUCK!? Three of them in a row? How many times you could do it? How come you don’t run out of Victa after all of those Artes? This is irrational! Unbelievable!” Viers was livid, his opponent cast that Arte as if it was a simple matter. His situation turned from bad to worse.

“You can’t defeat me, throughout the fight, you only used three Artes. One each for attacking, defending, and moving. Your sole attack type Arte couldn’t pierce my defenses in this state, it has been proven earlier. Give up and I will make it painless.”

“Humph… give up? Give up and die? I still have things I want to do so I reject your offer.” Viers was ready for the final showdown between the two of them.

“I see, that’s unfortunate. Your power is false but your skill and determination are genuine… speak your name cultist, I will remember you as a warrior.” Leon spoke.

“False power? What do you mean?” Viers bewildered.

Leon didn't answer immediately, as if he was struggling to tell him or not.

“The blood sacrifice… your raised affinity, it isn’t permanent. A few years at best before it turns back to your previous tier.”

The revelation felt like a lightning strike to him, it shocked his mind to the core.

Of course… of course! The affinity tier means the hard limit for how many one’s Intio can improve. Tier 4 affinity means a potential level 4 Path-seeker, but what does a level 4 Path-seeker mean? I haven’t seen any level 4, let alone level 3 in action so I don’t know how powerful they are but I can guess based on how much xianxia novels I read!

At the very least, a level 4 would have complete control over Luxore town, a town with several thousand populations! A level 4 should be able to kill thousands of humans easily!

How much power is that? The difference between level 2 and level 4 Path-seekers should be like heaven and earth! So how could the measly lives of five children change that? How could it be so easy? The answer is simple, Leon was speaking the truth! My affinity isn’t permanent! This is just the ploy of the Cult of Dumuzin and I was but a throwaway pawn to them!

Seeing the unmoving Viers, Leon continued.

“There’s another thing, there should be something inside you. From a magical point of view, it looks like red blobs.”

“!” Viers knew what he was talking about.

“It seems you have an idea, those red blobs are actually some kind of Mana seeds. It was dormant and harmless at first, a special ingredient was needed to make it active. But once it becomes active, those possessing the seeds will turn into mindless meat mutants. You will be the cult’s puppet… just like a Ghoul.”

Leon didn't say any lies. Even though Viers was his enemy, he pitied the young boy before him.

“I pity you… but you joined an evil cult serving a Greater Devil, what do you expect?”