A small empty vial traveled through the sky downward, tumbling toward the ground below.
Swoosh...
It was a mana potion bottleâLeon had just drained it completely to replenish his reserves to full capacity after spending quite a bit in his earlier escape and attacks.
The giantâs fist came at him like a windstorm incarnate. Fast like a meteor despite its massive size, the attack was lightning quickâdefying all logic about how something so enormous should move.
WHOOOOOOSH!
Leon didnât want to meet it head-on. He believed that would be suicide, even with his enhanced durability from his new race. So he dodged by moving through the air, evading by a hairâs breadth as the massive fist passed within meters of his body.
But it was a mistake on his part.
The wind pressure hit him like thunder despite his keeping up a wind barrier around himself to deflect the incoming force. It simply wasnât enough against the sheer scale of displaced air.
BOOOOM!
His body was flung like a rag doll, all control lost instantly. The force was overwhelming, sending him spinning wildly through the air.
Whrrrrr... whoooosh!
He was falling down nowâreally fast, accelerating with each passing moment. He knew instinctively that if he hit the ground at such speed, even with his enhanced body, it would be catastrophically bad. Broken bones at a minimum. Possibly worse.
His ears popped sharply from the rapid altitude change, and a high-pitched whistle screamed past his face as he plunged.
Fweeeeeeeeee!
With quick thinking born from countless battles, he teleported himself even while knowing the momentum wouldnât be canceled. The directional change was what mattered.
Fwoosh!
He reappeared with his velocity reversedânow shooting upward instead of down. He controlled himself with wind element manipulation, stabilizing his flight until he hovered at an even greater height than before, nearly two thousand meters up.
His breathing was heavy.
Haa... haa...
That was close. Too close.
However, another giant fist was already coming at himâmuch more brutal than before, moving with even greater speed and force. The creature was already onto him, leaving no chance to breathe.
Whoooosh!
This time, Leon didnât try to dodge at all.
With his sword gripped firmly in both hands, all three of his auras working together in perfect harmonyâlightning crackling, ice crystallizing, wind howlingâhe channeled his Transcendent rank technique Skybreaker Draw.
Zzzzzzap! Shhhhrrrk!
He took the stance of sheathing his sword, pulling the blade back as if preparing to draw it from an invisible scabbard. Power built and built, concentrating on a single point.
Then he unleashed it directly at the approaching fist.
SLAAAAASH!
A visible attack tore through the airâa slash mixing lightningâs speed, iceâs cutting edge, and windâs penetrating force together with extreme velocity and lethality. It looked like a line cutting through the very fabric of the world itself.
The clash happened.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A terrifying shockwave exploded outward from the collision point. The air itself seemed to split apart, creating a visible dome of compressed force that expanded in all directions.
KRRRAAAACK! SHHHHAAA!
Through the shockwave, Leon was pushed backward violently, his feet skidding through empty air as the wind element struggled to keep him stable.
He couldnât see anything in front of him anymoreâonly dust, debris, and distorted air from the massive explosion, which was obscuring everything.
Whoooom... crackle... hiss...
Only until his spatial awareness picked up something terrifying approaching through the cloud.
Noâ!
And then it was too late to properly react.
In that split second, Leon dropped his sword deliberately and shouted with the top of his lungs, raw desperation in his voice.
"AHHHHH!"
He punched forward with everything he hadâevery ounce of strength his fifteen percent limit allowed, every bit of technique, every fragment of power.
Through the dust and debris, a giant fist emerged and clashed directly with his own fist, which was like a speck of dust compared to its massive size.
CRAAAACKâ!
For a single moment as both fists connected, the world seemed to come to a complete halt. Time itself appeared to freeze. Sound vanished. Movement stopped.
And thenâ
BOOOOOOOM!!!!
The delayed impact hit like a bomb detonating. The shockwave was even more devastating than before, creating visible ripples in the air that spread for kilometers.
WHOOOOOOM! THUDDD!
A numbing sting burst through his knuckles, like needles stabbing through every nerve. A deep ache bloomed up his arm, dull but insistent, like marrow being crushed from within.
Tiny cracks formed on the giantâs fistâspiderweb fractures spreading from the impact point.
Crrrkkk... crrrkkk...
These seemed to originate from Leonâs previous Skybreaker Draw attack, and with this direct collision, the cracks became slightly bigger and more pronounced.
But the price Leon paid was severe.
He felt like heâd been hit by a speeding truck at full velocity. His mind went fuzzy, spinning wildly as his senses struggled to process what had just happened. Pain exploded through his entire arm.
Throb... throb... throb...
Only after a couple of seconds did he realize he was falling againâshooting toward the ground like a meteor, his body out of control.
Fwooooooosh!
He looked at his fist while grunting in pain. It was bloodyâcovered in crimson all the way up past his elbow. The skin was torn, muscles exposed, bones visible in places.
But surprisingly, the bones themselves werenât broken. Even he was shocked by this. His skeletal structure had somehow withstood an impact that should have shattered every bone in his arm.
Howâ?
And even as he watched, the wounds were healing without him using any technique. Just like before, his body was regenerating automatically at an impossible speed.
Ssshhhrrrâsllrrrp.
Flesh knitting together, skin regrowing, blood flow stopping.
I didnât know my natural healing would increase so much after my race change. This wasnât mentioned in the information the system showed about my race.
But he had no time to dwell on that mystery.
A massive kick was coming from the sideâthe giant had pivoted with surprising agility and was now attacking with its leg while Leon was vulnerable and falling.
WHOOOOSH!
He registered it this time clearly. After the previous surprise attack, heâd immediately increased his spatial awareness range to a full kilometer, ensuring nothing could approach unseen again.
His mystical eyes sharpened with focus and determination.
"Kingâs Touch!" he shouted, activating his Epic rank skill.
The sword that had been falling far out of range of normal teleportation came flying back to his hand instantly, like an arrow, caught by his bloody arm.
Thung!
His grip closed around the familiar handle.
Clack!
A slight green hue appeared across his skin and then disappeared just as quickly. The remaining injuries on his arm finished healing completely, restoring him to perfect condition.
Teleport!
He used his spatial ability once again to change his direction of fall. But this time, instead of merely reversing or stopping, he made the trajectory work to his advantage. He angled his momentum directly toward the foot that was trying to stomp him from above.
Vwoooosh!
Light element, wind element, and lightning element all activated simultaneously, boosting his speed dramatically. His figure became a streak of brilliant light cutting through the airâalmost impossible to track with normal vision.
Fzzzzzap! Whoooosh!
He charged directly at the massive black stone foot descending toward him.
Same techniqueâSkybreaker Drawâas it was his strongest sword attack by far. But that wasnât all. He layered Kingâs Touch over the technique itself, using the Epic skillâs power-amplification properties to make the slash even faster and more powerful than his previous attempts.
This time I wonât be thrown around like a doll.
He remembered those cracks from beforeâthe fractures his attacks had created on the giantâs fist. Visible proof that this thing could be damaged despite its overwhelming size and apparent invincibility.
I will break this giantâs black stone foot. I will shatter it this time!
Lightning crackled along his blade with purple-white intensity.
Zzzzzzzap!
Ice crystallized in geometric patterns across the metal.
Krrrkkk!
Wind howled around the weapon, creating a visible distortion in the air.
Whoooosh!
All three elements combined into a single point of impossible sharpness.
The distance closed rapidlyâten meters, five meters, three metersâ
His speed continued to build. The world around him blurred into streaks of color. The roar of the wind became deafening.
Fwooooom!
His clothes tore from the sheer force of air resistance, fabric ripping away in shreds.
Rrrriiip!
The blade grew almost too hot to grip as the energy condensed to a singularity, burning through his glove and biting into his skin with searing intensity.
Sssssss!
Leonâs eyes blazed with determination as he prepared to unleash everything he had directly into the descending foot. His sword pulled back into the sheathing position, power condensing, building, reaching critical massâ
------
Conan City, inside Lorielâs room.
Seraphine sat on the bed with her legs crossed elegantly, a knowing smile playing on her lips. Loriel was sitting on the ground in front of her, head bowed low, while her ears burned bright red. The embarrassment was clearly written all over her face and posture.
Whatever conversation they were having had clearly flustered the young saintess tremendously. She kept fidgeting with the hem of her dress, unable to meet Seraphineâs amused gaze.
"I-I just... I didnât know how to..." Loriel stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.
But then the atmosphere changed suddenly and dramatically.
RRRRMMMBLE!
An earthquake struck without warning. The entire building shook violently, and it didnât stop. Instead of subsiding like normal tremors, the intensity kept increasing with each passing second.
CRASH! CRACK! BOOM!
The walls began developing fissures. Dust fell from the ceiling. The furniture rattled and slid across the floor.
Rattle-rattle!
A sudden dry scent of mortar and splintering wood filled the air, stinging their nostrils. The floor seemed to pulse beneath their feet, vibrating like a drum stretched too tight.
Thum-thum-thum-thum!
At the same time, their door was broken from the outsideâkicked open with enough force to splinter the wood completely.
BANG!
Both women immediately went on high alert, weapons materializing in their hands instantly. Seraphineâs katana appeared wreathed in purple lightning.
Zzzzap!
Lorielâs twin daggers gleamed with holy light.
Shiiiing!
The same receptionist from before stood in the doorway, her face having lost all its color. She looked terrified beyond reason, her eyes wide with primal fear and her entire body trembling.
Sweat matted her hair to her forehead, and her lips quivered as if every syllable had to fight its way past terror itself.
She could barely get the words out through her panic.
"Quicklyârun from here! Save your lives! Conan City is going to be destroyed, travellers!"