"You cannot run, mid-3-star weakling!" the demon roared, his voice grinding as steel dragged across stone.

The blade fused to his arm elongated violently, metal screeching as it stretched forward before sweeping outward in a wide, murderous arc.

Leo stood directly beneath the path of the strike. As the shadow of the blade swallowed him, he tapped his foot lightly against the ground and leapt.

But the demon had anticipated that.

With a sharp hiss of metal reshaping itself, the demon elongated the blade on his other arm, thrusting its razor-sharp tip straight toward Leo's face.

[Luminous Prowl Step]: 300 mana

A swift mobility burst that lets the direwolf or user glide or dart silently in any direction, allowing quick dodges, sudden leaps, and rapid repositioning in close combat.

Mana surged through Leo's legs as he activated the skill, his body gliding sideways in a near-silent blur. The thrust skimmed past where his head had been a split second ago.

Yet the demon gave him no breathing room.

With a sharp metallic screech, both blades shifted mid-motion, their trajectories warping unnaturally as they converged to slice diagonally toward Leo from opposite sides.

"Fuck!" Leo cursed under his breath, teeth clenched. "This demon doesn't even let me concentrate!"

Just now, Leo realised the limitations of manipulative skills, unlike predetermined inherited skills that could be activated simply by using mana, manipulative skills like [Metal manipulation] required concentration as well as mana. A downside of being a jack of all trades.

[Luminous Prowl Step]

Mana burned again as Leo triggered the skill once more. He slipped away from the converging blades, this time pushing himself farther back, boots skidding slightly against the ground as he created enough distance to escape the demon's immediate reach, finally.

"…Strange," the demon muttered.

He straightened, blades twitching subtly as his glowing eyes narrowed.

"Attacks from a pseudo 4-star being like me cannot fail to reach a weakling at mid-3-star." His gaze sharpened. "Do you have a mobility skill activated constantly?"

He scoffed, sweeping his gaze across the battlefield while lazily waving his blades through the mist, as if trying to part it.

"Well, of course you must. Otherwise, there's no way a greater being like me would be outdone by an inferior existence."

His lips curled into a cruel grin.

"Even this mist is a skill… heh. Aren't you desperate? Burning through that much mana just to hold on against me. Let's see how lo—"

The demon kept rambling, but Leo had already tuned him out. Listening to his nonsense now would only fracture his focus further.

Mid-3-star?

Leo frowned internally.

What the hell is he talking about?

With base stats hovering between 600 and 700, Leo should firmly register as a pseudo 4-star. Yet the demon was treating him as if he were only mid-3-star—someone with stats barely scraping the 200–300 range.

That didn't add up.

As the demon continued posturing, Leo ran quick calculations in his mind.

The beasts…

All of his contracted beasts together shared 190 stat points with him across all attributes. Taken alone, that contribution would indeed place him at the cusp of mid-3-star.

Realization struck.

So that's it.

People can only sense the stats granted by my beasts.

If they could sense his true base stats, this demon wouldn't be acting so careless and arrogant.

That means he thinks I'm keeping some mobility skill permanently active just to keep up with him.

Leo's lips curled ever so slightly.

Doesn't that put me in a favorable position?

With the mist providing a 30% stat amplification, Leo wasn't merely keeping pace anymore.

He was practically equal—if not outright superior.

Total stats after 30% mist upgrade:

Vitality: [695] + 209

Strength: [695] + 209

Agility: [605] + 182

Stamina: [696] + 209

Intelligence: [914](No increase here, since mana itself gets consumed for stat amplification)

Mana: 85800 / 91400

But Leo caught onto something else.

Then why is his body so damn tough?

If they were truly equal, that punch—enhanced by [Critical Strike]—should have ended the fight in a single blow. Instead, the demon had shrugged it off, as if struck by nothing more than a mildly irritating tap.

"That punch landed squarely in pseudo 5-star power range…" Leo thought, eyes narrowing. "How the hell did he just brush it off?"

He was still grasping for an explanation when the demon suddenly lunged forward, closing the distance in an instant. Leo shoved the thought aside and snapped his focus back to the present battle.

Unbeknownst to Leo, demon physiology is unique as they utilise their tamed beasts in a different manner than other races, making their bodies extremely durable. But he would only come to know this later.

It was knowledge Leo would only gain much later.

Drawing on his close-combat training from his days as a soldier back on Earth, Leo moved instinctively. He twisted, ducked, and sidestepped with razor-thin margins, attacks slicing past him by mere hair's breadth. Each near miss sent a rush of air and metallic heat brushing against his skin.

"How long do you think your skill can stay activated?" the demon laughed loudly, his voice echoing through the mist. "HAHAHAHA!"

He was clearly enjoying himself—completely unaware that Leo wasn't on the defensive by choice. Leo simply lacked the means to properly attack right now.

Howl! Leo commanded internally. See if you can manipulate his body—he's made of metal.

The effect was immediate.

The demon's expression shifted from amusement to alarm as he abruptly retreated, staring at his arm blades with a strange, unsettled look. The metal vibrated violently, emitting a faint, high-pitched hum. His gaze snapped back to Leo, eyes sharp and suspicious.

"You…" the demon growled. "What are you doing to my body?"

He glanced around frantically, only to find the ever-present mist swirling lazily around him.

"Does this mist contain some kind of poison?" he shouted, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

The demon bolted toward Leo—only for his legs to betray him. His body twisted unnaturally, and he crashed sideways, skidding across the ground in a shower of sparks before coming to a halt.

"It works!" Leo exclaimed, a sharp grin breaking across his face.

Howl was actively using [Metal Manipulation]. With the demon constantly moving and exerting himself directly over Howl's body, the influence over his metal-infused body had taken hold far more effectively than Leo expected.

The demon growled and forced himself upright once more, muscles and metal plates trembling as he struggled for control. His entire body vibrated now, as if resisting an invisible grip.

"…Metal Manipulation," the demon hissed, realization dawning with fury.

Leo didn't waste the opening.

[Vine Estranglement]

Thick, twisting vines erupted from the ground, coiling tightly around the demon's limbs and pinning him in place. Under normal circumstances, the demon would have shattered them effortlessly—but with his body rebelling against him, he couldn't gather the strength needed to break free.

The demon snarled, baring pointed, metal-like teeth.

Then—

A primal sense of danger washed over him.

His head snapped upward, eyes widening in pure horror.

Through the swirling mist, a white beam streaked downward—tinged with gold—tearing through the air at tremendous speed, aimed directly at him.

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