Chapter 134 - Sword vs Armor

Leo stood still, blade in hand, as he stared at the enemy soldier.

They were reading each others' movements. A tactic normally used by seasoned fighters. Whoever messed up or revealed an opening would lose.

"You know who I am," Leo said as he watched the soldier with a careful eye, "Is there any chance you would let me go?"

Deep down, Leo knew that this guy was trouble. To be able to catch his Thunder Augmented sword like that... Leo was sure that the soldier wasn't as simple as he seemed.

"My, my. Surely the proud Prince doesn't intend to back down. That would ruin my fun..."

The soldier's mouth opened to a big, creepy smile.

Leo felt a chill run down his spine because of the soldier's appearance. It appeared that the enemy had a wicked personality. It was safe to assume that Leo would be better off running away.

However, he was surrounded.

Seeing the elite soldier keeping Leo preoccupied, the others tried to corner him.

'Should I use Thunderclap's Exit again?'

Leo carefully analyzed the situation.

He can easily make an opening for himself by killing one of the weaker soldiers and running away. But, at the same time, Leo was sure that his opponent wouldn't let him. The elite was able to capture his movements and react accordingly.

Charging his spell would also leave him vulnerable. It was one of Thunderclap's Exit glaring weaknesses. What's more, Leo knew that the elite soldier would be able to feel the Mana charging up for the spell.

Leo was fast. Fast enough to appear as lightning itself.

But, a human could only do so much.

'I don't have to win this fight. I only need to survive.'

Throughout the many battles he's been through, Leo knew a thing or two about unbeatable enemies. That meant that if he could walk away unscathed from an enemy twice as strong as he is, it would count as a victory.

'Wait...'

It was then that Leo realized something.

If this so-called "elite" had gained access to Mana around the same time he did, then there was no basis for his enemy to be stronger.

Sure, maybe the Attribute distribution would be different, but there was no reason for his enemy to be stronger than he was.

The soldier's main advantage would probably be his experiences before the Red Rain. But, Leo had been fighting with Mana for far longer. He built himself to be an attack-oriented Magic User.

So, why was he scared?

Leo had been on guard ever since the enemy caught his blade. Upon realization, however, Leo guessed that there was a reasonable explanation for that. No, he knew there was.

Moreover, he was the Thunder God's Candidate, for crying out loud!

'Perception and Endurance. Maybe, Agility.'

It was a rough estimate of how the elite soldier distributed his Attribute points. It made sense, considering the soldier was able to grab his sword by the blade.

Reinvigorated, Leo redid his stance, now full of confidence.

"Bring it."

Leo had a determined look on his face. One that seemed to say that he would emerge victoriously.

"Open fire."

The elite soldier commanded with an over-the-top smile that seemed to be peering into Leo's soul. However, it would take a lot more than that to shake his confidence.

Squatting down and putting significant strength on his leg muscles, Leo lunged to the side, immediately dodging the first barrage of bullets. From there, his momentum rapidly increased as pure electricity wrapped his legs.

With an absurd amount of speed, Leo got to the first group of soldiers. From the middle of the street to the nearest building, Leo only needed three seconds.

Three seconds were all it took for Leo to start his killing spree.

Having emptied their magazines, the soldiers weren't able to defend themselves in time. All Leo needed was a swift slice to their necks to end their lives.

Flickering in and out of the soldiers' sight, they were scared out of their wits.

Clearly, the Prince had undergone something massive for him to gain this strength. And, it was even clearer that they stood no chance against the Prince.

All the while, the elite soldier stood and watched. He didn't seem to mind the Prince going around and murdering every one of his soldiers. To him, they were expendable.

'Not moving, huh?'

Leo took a split second and looked at the elite soldier, noticing that he didn't move an inch. He didn't stop killing the enemies for a single second, but it bothered Leo that their respected elite didn't move.

Did he truly not care about his colleagues?

Leo started to feel guilt. He was massacring these soldiers that didn't seem to have a chance to fend for themselves. It was a one-sided slaughter where Leo was the executioner.

Naturally, that wasn't the case. Leo's mind had been clouded by the fact that he had been spilling blood everywhere he went.

The truth was that the soldiers were desperately defending themselves by shooting at Leo whenever he appeared. Leo's movements became so predictable that they started aiming at their fellow soldiers.

Which, in this case, may not have been the best plan.

Every time Leo had killed one, the bullets that these soldiers shot were too late. They couldn't react in time. In fact, it got so bad that the bullets the soldiers shot went through Leo's targets. These soldiers had effectively killed off whatever chance Leo's victims had of surviving.

However, Leo didn't notice this.

The truth was that what Leo had in his mind was his enemies were struggling. They didn't have a chance against him, who was plowing through the soldiers one by one.

To Leo, this was nothing short of a cull he had done himself.

The gap between Leo and the soldiers' strength was massive. Thus, making Leo believe that he killed without giving his opponents a chance to defend. Slashing left and right, Leo was able to kill the soldiers with ease. Physically, that is.

His mental state, however, was something left to be desired.

Leo didn't let up, though, as he continued his relentless attacks. He kept swinging his blade and consistently hit his mark. It wasn't long until the elite soldier remained.

Creepily enough, the elite soldier was still staring at him. Throughout the entirety of the fight, the guy didn't even move an inch to help his fellow soldiers. He was only watching Leo with extreme interest.

Naturally, Leo didn't want to give him room to breathe.

As soon as the blade landed on the final soldier, Leo sprung and lunged towards the elite soldier. The man was still standing in the middle of the street, just as how he was when the fight started.

Aiming for the soldier's neck, Leo held the blade and swung with great might.

Cling!

This time, Leo felt his blade hit... something. It wasn't anything soft or easy to cut through. It was, for lack of a better term, hard.

"Careless."

The elite soldier looked down at Leo even before the fight had started. But, for some reason, this time around, Leo felt as if he weren't in the guy's league. It was as if the gaps between their strengths were too wide to overcome.

Leo had swung his hardest. He had even sacrificed his stance and threw his entire body into the attack, making him face the ground. A one-shot, one-kill. That was what Leo was hoping for.

But, looking up to match his enemy's gaze, Leo's attack was stopped by a single finger clad in metal. That was all it took for the guy to stop Leo's swift blade.

'Shit.'

He, naturally, didn't stay long. Leo immediately pulled his sword back and retreated a few steps away from the enemy.

"My, my. Are you scared, little one? Don't you want to come and give me a hug?"

It was then that Leo learned why he couldn't manage to land a hit on the guy.

With a casual look, the enemy elite now had a metal layer all over his body. It was as if the guy was entirely made of metal. Leo narrowed his eyes as soon as he realized this. He couldn't help but think if there was a way to beat him.

"You see, my dear Prince. My body is covered in a material tougher than steel. Your little toy over there is really nothing but a toy. I sure hope that we can have a little bit of fun before I kill you, yes?"

Leo was aghast. He instinctively took a step back as he stared down at the enemy.

'He's not fast. No, he's really a sadistic bastard that takes pleasure in seeing his enemies squirm. But, I gotta say, though, I can't really come up with anything that would kill him.'

If it were normal armor, Leo would have killed him by now. He was sure that his blade could cut through anything. But, he still knew that his power had limitations of its own.

Because it was nearly a year now since he had fought an opponent that was way more powerful than him.

Regardless, Leo had to think of a solution. He was confident in defeating his enemy, but there was no clear way how.

Leo could hit the guy with every ounce of speed and Thunder he had on his arsenal. Clearly, though, that did not work. The supposed "armor" that the elite soldier had was extremely tough.

Metal made Leo's blade useless. Normally, Augmenting Thunder into his sword would've worked on normal metal. But, what if one's Mana was made to have the same properties as metal? His sword and Thunder were essentially useless.

So, what solution could he come up with?

Augmenting Thunder to his blade once more, Leo decided to keep attacking. He moved at full speed and approached the elite. Swinging his blade, Leo knew what would happen next.

The enemy soldier raised his hand to block even though he didn't need to. It was all an act to keep Leo feeling weak and doubting. However, Leo expected that the soldier would block his blade so, he tilted it to the side, hitting the soldier's chest.

'He didn't block it?'

Leo was surprised. Without sparing a moment, Leo decided to test whether it was a fluke or not. Swinging his sword once more, the soldier raised his hand to block it. Leo, once again, tilted the blade ever so slightly, altering the trajectory altogether.

And... the blade completely missed the hand and hit his lower abdomen instead.

'The hell?'

The enemy soldier wasn't anything particularly fast. In fact, he felt slow.

What Leo misunderstood as fast was an act all along. Leo completely didn't realize that his movements, attacks, everything were being read all along! The enemy soldier could see where he needed to block beforehand. That was why he caught Leo's blade twice!

'Still, this guy is tough as a nut.'

Leo managed to hit the soldier's chest twice, but there was no damage in his cuts. The living metal armor protected the soldier everywhere. So, no matter where Leo would attack, it won't really do anything.

After landing a few more hits, Leo decided to back off for now and retreated a few steps back.

"You're all talk, aren't you?" Leo started to throw some provocations. "You can't land a hit on me. You're just standing there like a tree and taking everything I throw at you."

"Oh, my. The little Prince figured it all out," the enemy soldier confirmed Leo's suspicions.

"Yes, what you said is true. You are too fast for me to land anything, but I'm too tough for you to hurt. Clearly, we both are waiting for each other's Mana to run out. Although... I'm sure yours will run out first. Then, I'll make you feel all sorts of pleasure..."

The elite soldier laughed maniacally as Leo clicked his tongue. The guy read the situation accurately.

Leo's Mana was dangerously low.