Leo’s smile faded into a cold, razor-thin smirk.
"So, you’ve learned so new tricks," he said, his tone almost amused. "Let’s see how long you can keep up, Julian Deaw."
Julian didn’t bother replying. His eyes flashed, deep indigo bleeding into streaks of lightning as the storm above them thickened. He raised one hand and the air behind him split open, his inventory roaring to life. Bombs, blades, and strange chanical canisters shimred into existence, orbiting him in precise gravitational rings.
Leo squinted, sensing the shift in mana.
"Ah, clever..." he muttered. "You’re using spatial compression as a summoning dium. Not bad."
Julian flicked two fingers forward.
"Let’s test your analysis speed, Shithead."
The canisters shot out first, small tal orbs that cracked open mid-air, revealing glowing lightning cores. Then ca the blades, wrapped in shadows. They swirled together into a storm of detonating light, each explosion amplified by Julian’s shadow threads, forcing the blast waves to fold back on themselves.
Leo raised his hand, his own aura surging. "You think explosions will save you?"
He slamd his palm to the ground, the earth liquefied into water, rippling outward in a do. Ice ford instantly over it, shaping into hexagonal mirrors. When the bombs exploded, the mirrors reflected the force, redirecting the blasts away. The air itself scread as pressure built and shattered.
Julian blinked once, calculating. "You’re learning too fast for soone who talks that much."
Leo’s lips curved. "That’s because you underestimate what it ans to evolve."
He snapped his fingers. The ice mirrors dissolved, morphing into serpent-shaped streams of water that slithered across the ground, silent, invisible under the smoke. In the chaos, Leo disappeared.
Julian’s instincts scread—’left!’
But too late.
Leo erged from the mist, striking upward with a blade of frozen water condensed to the hardness of diamond. Julian blocked with his lightning-infused sword, but Leo’s left hand morphed mid-motion, an insectoid claw dripping green venom.
Julian twisted away, narrowly avoiding the poisoned strike, then detonated a shadow bomb at point-blank range. The explosion engulfed them both in black lightning.
When the smoke cleared, Leo stood amidst crackling shadows, his armor partially shattered, but his grin wide.
"Lightning, shadow, gravity... and you still rely on toys," he mocked.
Julian raised his head slowly, eyes burning through the haze.
"Maybe," he said, voice low, "but my toys are smarter than you think."
From the lingering darkness behind Leo, five more bombs floated silently, hidden inside Julian’s shadow field. They pulsed once and then detonated with synchronized precision, their energy feeding into Julian’s lightning. The chain reaction sent a focused plasma surge crashing toward Leo, who barely managed to throw up an ice barrier before being engulfed in white fire.
The blast leveled half the battlefield.
Julian exhaled, lowering his hand. His hair flickered with static as his lightning stabilized. "Let’s see how a god survives that."
For a mont, there was silence. Then—
Crack.
Ice reford in the smoke, jagged and alive. Leo stepped out, his exoskeletal armor half-lted, his face lit with a wild grin.
"Congratulations," he said, voice dripping with exhilaration. "You made take this seriously."
He raised both arms, the air around him freezing solid as dozens of water blades ford in orbit. "Now, let’s play at your level."
Julian observed coolly, spreading his hands, lightning weaving through his shadows.
"Perfect," he said. "Because I’m just getting ward up."
Leo’s body flickered, vanishing and reappearing in front of Julian with speed sharp enough to blur the air itself. His claw t steel as Julian drew his sword in a single motion, sparks scattering like fireflies in the storm.
The clash echoed, tal against divine crystal, lightning against frost.
Julian’s movents were different now. Gone was the reliance on explosives and traps, his stance was refined, his blade weaving arcs of light and shadow that flowed like liquid precision. Every strike carried intent, every deflection turned Leo’s overwhelming strength against him.
Leo narrowed his eyes. "So you can fight up close too, hm?"
Julian didn’t answer. He stepped inside Leo’s guard, blade cutting upward in a diagonal slash that forced Leo to parry. The rhythm of the blows was relentless, swift, tight, perfectly calculated. Leo found himself pushed back, sparks snapping between their blades as lightning flared.
Each swing from Julian carried years of instinct, a killer’s focus. He wasn’t fighting for style or pride, he was fighting to end it.
"Tch..." Leo clicked his tongue as their blades locked. "You’ve been hiding this. I almost thought you were just a trickster."
Julian’s voice was low and cold. "You talk too much."
He twisted his wrist, channeling lightning through his sword, the sudden jolt disoriented Leo’s balance, and Julian seized the opening, delivering a high-speed slash across Leo’s side. Ice shattered, blood hissed as it hit the ground, steaming from the heat of Julian’s attack.
Leo jumped back, his expression darkening. For the first ti, he was on the defensive.
"Impressive..." he muttered, inspecting the wound as it froze itself shut. "But swordsmanship alone won’t save you."
Julian tilted his head slightly, eyes glowing faintly. "Then stop talking and prove it."
Leo smirked. "Gladly."
The ground beneath them fractured as Leo suddenly lted into water, vanishing from sight. Julian instantly tensed, his instincts screaming. From below, a spear of ice shot upward he dodged, countering with a lightning arc—but Leo reappeared behind him, the water reforming into his humanoid shape mid-spin. His claw extended into a spiraling blade, striking from impossible angles.
Julian deflected two blows, ducked a third but Leo’s movents had changed. They were no longer predictable.
’He’s copying my timing,’ Julian thought, teeth clenched.
Leo grinned, reading the shift in Julian’s stance. "You’re skilled with that blade," he said, dodging a strike so close it split a few of his insectoid armor plates. "But I learn faster than you bleed."
Julian responded by igniting his sword in shadow and lightning, the blade humming with dangerous resonance. "Then I’ll make sure you don’t have ti to learn."
They clashed again, Leo turning his claws into whips of icy water that lashed and curved through the air, while Julian countered each unpredictable strike with calculated precision. Sparks and frost collided, slicing open the storm.
Julian’s swordsmanship was cleaner and sharper, but Leo’s creativity began to twist the battle into chaos, he launched shards of ice from blind angles, froze the moisture in the air to slow Julian’s movents, and even used his reflection in the puddles to feint attacks.
Their duel beca a dance of intellect and instinct.
And though Leo had the power advantage, there was no denying it now Julian Deaw was the superior swordsman.
That realization made Leo’s grin stretch wider, manic and alive.
"Perfect..." he whispered. "Show how far your skill can go before I break it apart piece by piece."
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