Chapter 724: Unpredictable [2]

"...No, but seriously. Change your terms. I’m actually going to be broke."

"Hm?"

I stopped to look at Leon.

I was obviously joking about needing a portal. I could afford it myself.

But his words left me quite surprised.

"You’re saying that you’re going to be broke. Doesn’t that mean that you can actually afford it?"

"....!"

Leon’s face changed.

"Ha!"

He could actually afford it!

"Ehm."

Leon cleared his throat and looked away from me. At the same time, as he looked around the training ground, he moved towards the wooden weapon rack and grabbed a sword.

"It’s a fine sword you have."

He looked really serious as he said it.

"...."

"Really nice."

"...It’s made out of wood."

"Excellent craftsmanship for a wooden sword."

I pursed my lips and just gave up on him.

I shifted my focus to my surroundings. It had been some time since I last visited this training ground. I used to train here often with Leon, back when he served as my knight. The area was well maintained, but the ground bore countless marks.

Small craters and marks left behind from previous scuffles and battles.

"Anyways, this place feels a little bit off."

Leon casually mentioned as he swung the wooden sword around. His gray eyes scanned the place curiously.

"This place used to have a lot more people. In fact, this entire household had a lot more people. Where is everyone?"

"...I want to know that too."

Now that there was no longer a need for the Evenus Household to hide its powers, it was okay for the previous butlers, maids, and knights to come back.

And yet...

None of them had shown up yet.

Some did, but the place was still a lot more deserted than I wanted it to be.

"Where’s the family head, too? I’m surprised I haven’t seen him yet."

"..."

Leon’s questions gave me a headache.

’Should I just tell him he’s dead? Or should I just tell him he’s on a long trip?’

I groaned to myself.

"What? Did something happen to the family head?"

"Something like that."

I massaged my neck while looking at Leon.

"...I’ll tell you more about it later. For now, there’s something more pressing that the two of us need to take care of."

"Right."

Leon’s expression turned more serious, and his deep gray eyes slowly turned black.

Countless stars appeared within them.

I paused.

"Actually, before we start. Let’s not use our domains in full."

"Huh?"

Leon’s eyes turned gray again.

"Why?"

I pointed at our surroundings.

"I don’t think the place might be able to stand it. Let’s just use our domains partially. That’s fair, right?"

"...I guess."

Leon’s eyes turned black once more as he nodded.

At the same time, I couldn’t help but look at this sword.

"Are you really fine with—"

"You’re dragging the fight. I’m going in first."

Swoosh!

Leon’s body faded from the spot, and my lip twitched.

"Why do you have to be so impatient? I’m ju—"

Before I could even finish speaking, he appeared at my right side, swinging a wooden sword toward my neck. His speed was impressive, blinding, even, but not unexpected. I stepped forward, my eyes locking onto the approaching blade just as it halted inches from my neck.

I took another step forward and flicked my hand up

"....!?"

Leon’s eyes widened as the sword flung back, and he took several steps back.

He paused for a moment as he looked at me.

"You know how to use telekenesis?"

I just smiled.

Leon’s face turned even more serious. The stars in his eyes faded, and he disappeared again. This time, he was a lot faster than before.

My brain had no time to process his speed before he was already right before me.

A pink orb appeared in my mind.

Then—

The sword cleaved down on my shoulder.

BANG!

I didn’t flinch, but I felt the pain as Leon’s figure appeared right in front of me. I met his gaze, and just as I was about to react, even more stars faded away from his gaze. In that instant, his power surged dramatically, and I felt the weight of it drag down on my shoulder.

The sudden shift took me aback as Leon’s eyes flickered and he extended his other hand.

Swooosh!

I didn’t get to see what he did, but I felt a scorching heat on the left side of my face.

’Dangerous!’

I tried to step back, threads bursting out from all directions as several orbs formed in my mind. But as if he had eyes in the back of his head, he struck with perfect precision, the threads shattered, and something clamped around my ankles, locking me in place.

Leon’s lips turned into a smirk as he looked at me.

He didn’t need to say anything to know what he was trying to say.

’As your knight, I obviously know all your habits and weaknesses...’

Arrogant bastard.

The heat on the left side of my cheek intensified, and every hair on my body stood on end as I saw his muscles begin to tense and joints pop, an suffocating pressure coming out of his body.

Seeing the sight, I couldn’t help but sigh.

’Fuck, he really did improve a lot. What kind of drugs did they feed him over there?’

Of course, just because he had improved a lot, it didn’t mean that I was helpless.

I was far from that.

Seeing that he was just about to attack again, I blinked my eyes once.

"Huh?"

Leon’s expression changed.

A look of confusion appeared on his face as he looked at me.

"You... Who are you? Wait, what?"

The heat on the left side of my cheek faded as he looked at me in utter confusion. But despite the confusion, he didn’t let go of me.

Not that it mattered, since what I wanted was just a slight distraction in his concentration.

"...I’m quite sad that you don’t recognize me."

’Sadness’

Leon’s lips trembled as he heard my voice.

His eyes started to moisten, and confusion marred his features. I hadn’t used Emotive Magic before because I was aware that he was ready for it. However, in the moment of confusion, the walls crumbled, and I took the opportunity to use it.

This strategy evidently worked well as tears started to drip down Leon’s face as he covered his face with both hands.

"N-no, I... I..."

I just smiled and kicked him in the abdomen as hard as I possibly could. Enough to hear several cracks coming from his chest.

BANG!

Leon’s body skidded back before crashing onto the ground.

’That should be enough to end the fight.’

Or so I thought.

Right after I kicked him and he snapped out of it, Leon looked back at me before sitting up as though nothing had happened to him.

I paused.

’What’s going on? Why is he acting like nothing is wrong? I could’ve sworn I’ve broken at least a couple of his ribs...’

"What was that?"

Leon massaged the back of his neck with a complicated expression as he looked at me.

I paused for a moment before answering.

"Eye of Existence."

"...I see."

Leon nodded before lowering his head and mumbling something like, ’Fucking broken. Why does this guy get all the broken shit?’

"Huh?"

"No, nothing."

"No, I’m pretty sure—"

"Whatever, the fight isn’t over."

Leon dashed in my direction again. This time, his movements weren’t as fast. They were much slower, but at the same time, I felt much more pressured.

’How strange...’

Normally, the faster someone was, the more pressure I felt. But this time, it was the opposite. His slower pace carried a pressure I hadn’t anticipated, and it threw me off completely.

And as I looked at him, I quickly realized why.

’...His movements. There’s something extra to them. Hypnosis? Illusion? No, I’m not sure. However, it’s messing with my mind.’

It made it harder for me to properly tell where he was and what he was planning on doing.

He was...

Unpredictable.

".....!?"

Just as my eyes managed to trace his movements, I felt a cold chill coming down from my back, and I instinctively moved forward.

Swoosh!

A sword beam shot from behind it.

It just barely grazed me before Leon came at me.

He swung his sword slowly, but the moment I looked at the path of his sword, I found myself unable to tell where exactly he was aiming. Was it my head? My chest? My legs?

I clenched my teeth.

A pink orb appeared in my mind again. My muscles tensed, and at the same time, green hands shot out from underneath the ground, trying to grasp Leon in every direction. However, Leon remained unfazed as he merely glanced at the hands before continuing with his attack.

It was almost as if... he didn’t regard the attack at all.

BANG!

His word came down.

It hit me squarely on my hip as I staggered back.

On the otherhand, the hands went on to grasp Leon. His face immediately paled as he staggered back.

The sight took me aback.

Did he really just trade attacks with me?

But why would he do that? He had more to lose than I did? Unless....

"....!?"

This time, I couldn’t help but really be shocked by Leon as I looked at him. Standing on the opposite end of me, I watched as he closed his eyes before steam slowly rose out from his body, and the paleness that had been present moments prior started to fade.

I wanted to attack him in this moment. Prevent him from recovering.

However, my curiosity got the better of me.

...And then, as I watched him fully recover, I finally understood what was happening.

This power...

It was eerily close to Noel’s.

’Don’t tell me...’

"Ready to go again?"

Leon pointed his wooden sword at me, a smile playing at his lips.

"I can keep going for quite a bit longer."

I opened my mouth, but soon shook my head.

"No, forget it."

At the rate we were going, the only way to truly determine a winner would be if both of us went all out. I wasn’t really planning on doing that.

I still had many cards to play, and was confident in beating him.

But beating him seemed extremely troublesome.

Especially if he really did learn Noel’s power.

’Fuck, he really ended up teaching Leon of all people. But when? How...?’

I had so many questions that I wanted to ask.

In the end, I was sure that I’d get them once I read his books.

’Right, I also need to get the chalice from Leon.’

I needed my memories back.

But before that...

"You want to stop now? Are you scared?"

"Yeah."

"Hm? Really?"

"For you, yeah."

I nodded slowly to myself as Leon’s face turned strange.

"You’re joking. I was just about—"

"I can beat you right now without even lifting a finger and not using emotive magic."

Leon paused before frowning.

"What sort of nonsense are you spouting? If you don’t want to f—"

"I’m engaged."

I raised my hand to show the ring on my finger.

Oh, wait. He had probably already seen it before. I rubbed the ring in my hand.

"Well, I’m pretty sure I already told you, but it’s official now. I met with father-in—Wait. What are you going?"

Despite my words, Leon didn’t listen.

He calmly walked up to the weapon rack and picked up another sword.

This time, it wasn’t made out of wood.

It was real metal.

I shook my head.

"We even kissed."

Thud!

Leon tossed the wooden sword to the side.

"She’s also preg—Huh? Leon... Hold on, I was just joking about that part. You’re actually going to die if you stab yourself in the neck. Leon! Also... does this count as my win?"