As he finished his transformation and stood ready, Leon noticed something that made his heart sink. The woman with the greatsword—who'd looked like she was just taking a casual stroll and stretching moments before—suddenly smiled after witnessing his full transformation.

Then she took a distinctly weird fighting stance, her sword held at an unusual angle.

It seems my transformation has made her at least acknowledge me a little bit. That's... something, I guess?

The terrifying man also seemed slightly curious now. He was eyeing Leon intently for several long seconds after the Elemental Surge activated, his head tilting slightly.

Stop staring at me like that, you psycho! It's creepy!

After that uncomfortable scrutiny, the man spoke one final word that resonated through the arena.

"KRESH!"

Then he vanished—gone as he'd never been standing there at all, disappearing like a shadow absorbed by light.

WHOOSH!

The deafening roar from the audience, along with screeches from flying beasts circling overhead, made Leon realize with absolute clarity: the fight had officially started.

"KRESH! KRESH! KRESH!"

SCREECH! ROAR! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Leon's strategy was simple and desperate: no testing the waters, no cautious probing, no checking her capabilities gradually. Use absolutely everything from the start and go straight for a finishing blow.

All or nothing. Right now.

Every combination of Aura he possessed buzzed intensely around his epic sword with full force—Space, Lightning, Ice, Wind, all layered together in chaotic harmony. The blade itself seemed to be trembling with excitement, as if it too understood they were fighting for their lives.

CRACKLE! HUMMM! WHOOSH!

Not only offensive techniques, but every defensive skill Leon possessed was activated simultaneously. A layered protection of crystalline Ice and solid earth formed around his body like armor.

I have Fire defensive skills too, but I can't use them with Ice active—when they're both at high power, they clash with each other and cancel out.

And then he vanished as his Illusion affinity activated at full display, bending light around him completely.

The skill combination made the audience erupt with defying roars—they were witnessing so many strange abilities and unprecedented powers all at once, things they'd never seen in their entire lives.

"VEL! MANDOR! SIKTH TOR!"

Leon teleported continuously toward his opponent, who was still standing calmly in that strange stance. The only difference now was that an intense, ethereal red Aura had condensed all around her body like armor.

CRACKLE!

That red energy again. The same thing that disrupted my elements before.

That red Aura was like a mana poision—twisting, breaking, swallowing any force that touched it

He was completely invisible because of the sophisticated illusion created around him, refracting light perfectly.

As he teleported closer, covering the distance quickly, he took an unpredictable angular path—one she wouldn't even be able to predict or sense his direction from.

This might actually work! She can't see me!

The arena was enormous, so he had to teleport several times in rapid succession to reach her position.

FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!

He finally materialized directly behind her, still covered in his illusion cloak. Then he unleashed a devastating combination attack, Sky Breaker Draw merged with King's Touch and Frost Fang—the deadly technique that targeted the soul itself—while simultaneously executing a full-force physical slash aimed directly at her exposed back.

This has to work!

As the massive slash was executed, the illusion barrier couldn't contain the sheer power and immediately shattered, but he maintained it around his body even then to be invisible all the time.

CRACK! WHOOOOSH!

The attack was absolutely terrifying, filled with an overwhelming amount of combined elemental power and spatial distortion.

I might have actually won! This deadly combo I've never used before at this level of strength must be devastatingly strong! She can't even detect me until the attack is already—

However, what happened next made Leon's jaw literally drop open in shock.

She turned in that impossible fraction of time—mere milliseconds—and calmly parried the entire devastating slash with her greatsword, which was now covered in that unusual condensed red energy he still couldn't fully comprehend.

CLANG! BOOOOM!

As her massive sword connected directly with his combination attack, a deafening explosion erupted across the arena, shaking the ground.

At first, it appeared as if his attack was actually competing evenly with her defense parry, the energies clashing and creating visible shockwaves.

But as her sword moved with practiced precision through his assault, his attack's power was systematically reduced and dismantled. At the end, without even scratching her, his devastating combination was completely negated.

FIZZLE... CRACK!

What?! How?!

Leon had expected some resistance—but the amount of actual challenge his best attack had given her was far, far less than he'd imagined.

This is bad. This is really bad.

"What the hell is that weird red energy?! It disrupts my elements completely!"

This was the third time he'd faced that strange, disruptive power—first from the portal, then from the psycho man, and now this.

Leon realized one critical thing immediately: if he didn't find an effective counter to that red energy, he would lose miserably. And after losing, he'd be executed by them according to what Crission told him.

I have to figure this out. Fast.

There was one thing he appreciated greatly about this hostile world: the mana concentration in this realm was extraordinarily high, which made his already absurd natural recovery rate even faster than normal.

At least I can spam techniques more freely here.

He quickly teleported to a completely different angle to attack from an unexpected direction.

FWOOSH!

However, just as he materialized, he felt the disruption intensify dramatically as her body actively excluded that red energy in an expanding field around her.

BZZZZT!

For a terrifying moment, everything he had—all his carefully layered techniques and enhancements—flickered and nearly vanished completely.

No! Not now!

His next prepared slash was disrupted mid-execution. This attack had been powered primarily by spatial energy in the cutting edge rather than elemental Auras, specifically because he'd recognized how terrifying Spatial affinity was as a weapon.

However, even that failed. The attack still happened, but it was dramatically weaker than intended.

In this desperate situation, Leon poured mana like never before directly into maintaining his transformation state and techniques, flooding them with raw power.

It worked—barely. The disruption energy was being excluded from his immediate vicinity and continuously replaced by his overwhelming mana output.

A sigh of relief... but he knew it won't last long.

Because when his weakened sword slash clashed directly with hers—unable to project a ranged attack due to the disruption—he felt the truly overwhelming force behind her strength.

CLANG! BOOM!

He was pushed backward violently, his boots skidding across stone.

The constant disruption field had made him noticeably slower, his reflexes dulled.

And just then, for the very first time since the fight began, she actually moved offensively.

Like a mirage—not an illusion, but simply her pure, terrifying speed made visible.

Oh hell no!

Leon tried desperately to teleport away to safety—

But the disruption field also intensified dramatically, locking down his spatial manipulation.

FIZZLE!

She was just testing me before! This whole time!

An attack came from his blind side—far too fast for him to properly block or parry it.

I can't do anything!

He repositioned himself desperately in a last-second defensive posture, angling his body so that at the very least his vital organs and head would be protected.

Please don't be fatal!

He hardened his face and body alive. Her greatsword connected like a thunderous hammer blow against his side.

CRASH!

Leon felt the explosive pain radiating through his entire body.

"AHHH!"

He tasted iron in his mouth, the raw edge of blood mixing with grit as he tumbled.

He was sent flying backward like a broken ragdoll, his whole side screaming in agony. But through the pain, he registered something crucial: he hadn't been cut open. She'd deliberately hit him with the flat side of her sword rather than the blade.

His muscles were torn in a few places, but his skeleton was fully intact.

Why? Mercy? Or just more testing?

He flew approximately a hundred meters, bouncing and tumoring across the hard ground several times before his momentum finally stopped.

BOUNCE! CRASH! TUMBLE!

But as he rolled, gasping, he felt something change. The disruption effect on his elements was suddenly gone—completely absent.

There's a range limit! That overpowered ability has a limited range!

Leon understood immediately. This was crucial tactical information he could exploit.

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