Finding that there was a definite range to the disruption effect on his mana, Leon's combat strategy became crystal clear and simple.

Distance. I need to maintain distance at all costs.

Leon didn't try to get close to her anymore—that was suicide.

Keeping his distance carefully, Leon attacked using exclusively long-range techniques. Fast, concentrated beams of pure Light affinity shot toward her like lasers. Massive spears made from crystalline ice, combined with crackling Lightning and pressurized Air, make them far more deadly and faster. Many other elemental combinations followed in rapid succession—long-range attacks of every type he could produce.

WHOOSH! CRACK! BOOM! SIZZLE!

He didn't hold back anything and bombarded her continuously without pause, creating a relentless storm of attacks.

However, every single attack—once it entered her proximity and that strange red energy field—lost significant power and got dramatically weakened. Even so, she was fast enough and skilled enough to calmly dismantle every remaining threat with precise sword strikes.

CLANG! SLASH! FWOOSH!

She's too good. But I'm learning.

However, one crucial thing Leon noticed through careful observation was that attacks that had the Ice element incorporated within them lost noticeably less power compared to others when passing through her disruption field.

Ice is resistant to her ability somehow!

This made him realize that Ice affinity seemed to be somewhat naturally resistant to her weird racial ability—because he'd checked her full status thoroughly now, and no listed skill or technique name provided justification for this disruptive power.

He couldn't examine the details of her racial abilities section since that information was locked in his system, so it was the only logical answer.

It's a Pyrrhan racial trait. Has to be.

Leon continued his relentless assault, now focusing primarily on combination attacks, which were composed mostly of the Ice element as the base, with other elements layered on top.

Countless ice spears began raining down on her position, one after another in waves.

CRASH! BOOM! SHATTER!

It wasn't doing any actual damage to her, as she was handling them quite well with minimal effort.

But that's not the point. Attrition is the goal.

However, Leon genuinely believed that after enough time passed and enough attacks were defended against, she would eventually get tired and exhaust her stamina. Then he would finally win through simple endurance.

It's not an honorable way to win, but I don't care enough about honor right now. Survival matters. Nothing else.

Right now, Leon was hovering approximately fifty meters above the arena floor, using his Wind and Light affinities to maintain flight while being completely invisible thanks to his Illusion affinity bent around him.

The air was thin and hot at this altitude, tinged with the scorched scent of smoke of this world. Even through his illusion, the heat brushed against his skin like invisible fingers.

From this aerial vantage point, he was raining down continuous bombardment on her stationary position.

She can't reach me here. Perfect.

He could clearly see she was getting progressively more frustrated with each passing minute, her movements becoming slightly more aggressive.

Then suddenly, he heard a loud shout from her in her harsh language, her voice carrying clearly even up to his position.

"VEL KRESH MANDOR SIKARA TOR!"

The audience's cheers were noticeably less powerful than before—it seemed the current fighting style and tactics were not particularly enjoyable to watch for them.

Too bad. I'm not here to entertain you.

After her angry shout, Leon quickly ascended even higher into the Air—climbing to nearly a hundred meters—as he felt the ambient heat in the entire atmosphere getting dramatically higher with each passing second.

WHOOOOSH!

Down below, he could see around her body; there was a materialization of fiery red condensed flame energy forming protective armor around her entire form. The very creation of this technique had completely obliterated his most recent barrage of ice spears just by existing.

FWOOOOSH! CRACK!

What is that?!

He could immediately tell it wasn't just any ordinary skill—this appeared to be a high-level technique executed with extremely high mastery and control.

Even from afar, the air warped visibly around her—waves of heat rising in shimmering distortions.

Her giant greatsword was also now burning with intense fiery energy, wreathed in flames. It was similar in concept to his Aura layering, but distinctly different in execution and power.

Even from the Air, a hundred meters away, Leon felt an oppressive force bearing down on him. His own carefully maintained combination of Auras began shaking and destabilizing.

CRACK! BUZZ!

And just then, his Aura layer burst—not destroyed completely, but specifically, his Ice affinity component reacted violently.

What—?! A breakthrough?!

It got dramatically more intense in an instant. He'd been really close to ranking up for a while, and the intense combat pressure combined with exposure to her overwhelming Fire technique had pushed him over the edge.

His Ice Aura has just reached level 2 at that very moment.

Frost surged outward from his limbs in a rushing burst, coating his sword arm with a thin veil of mist. A chill rolled through his spine like breath from a glacier.

WHOOOOSH! CRACKLE!

The intensity of the ice energy around his black sword increased exponentially, and even the protective layer coating his body became noticeably thicker and more resilient.

Yes! Finally!

However, even with this significant power increase, he still felt the oppressive nature of her technique bearing down on him. It was lighter now than before—more manageable—but it was definitely still present and active.

Whatever she's using is at a much higher level than what I have. Probably something beyond the realms of Aura.

Even a hundred meters up in the sky, he could feel intense heat radiating from her position.

It's like she's a miniature sun down there.

Leon knew his previous cautious, evasive strategy had genuinely pushed her emotional buttons and made her angry.

Good. Angry people make mistakes.

He continued his assault, launching another massive wave of hundreds of ice spears simultaneously, all descending down on her like meteors from the sky.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

However, this time, with just one single powerful wave of her flaming greatsword, she obliterated absolutely all of his spears at once in a sweeping arc.

FWOOOOSH! CRACK! BOOM!

The display of overwhelming power got a massive, thunderous cheer from the excited audience.

"KRESH! KRESH! KRESH!"

And then she looked directly upward into the sky—staring precisely at his exact location with blazing eyes, as if she could somehow see exactly where he was despite his illusion.

Can she sense me? Through the illusion?

Then she said something in her language, her voice carrying clearly upward.

"Vel'kresh mandor! TOR KALA!"

Leon didn't need to know her language to understand exactly what she was demanding. She wanted him to come down to the ground and fight her directly.

Oh hell no. Absolutely not.

He would never willingly go back down to ground level, where she'd been dominating him before. Even using his most powerful combination sword techniques with extended range, she'd been stronger. He wasn't suicidal enough to accept that challenge.

Stay up here. Maintain distance. That's the plan.

He simply replied to her demand with another massive array of hundreds of ice spears, which she destroyed again in one sweeping wave of her burning sword.

FWOOSH! CRASH!

This time, he received loud boos from the disappointed audience.

"BOOOO! VEL SIKARA!"

"BOOOO! VEL SIKARA!"

"BOOOO! VEL SIKARA!"

I can feel the audience really doesn't like me fighting like this. But I don't give a shit. I'm here to win and survive by any means possible, not to put on a show.

One strategic thing he was acutely aware of: his natural rate of mana recovery was literally tens of times faster than hers, based on what he could observe. He just had to make her continuously spend her energy defending, and eventually, he would win through attrition.

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