The glow of his sword

Leon didn't know how the Wyvern did it, but the range of its ultimate attack had expanded to the size of a football field. Even with the empowered Quickstep (Lv. 2), he knew he couldn't outrun it. 'Looks like it's time to bring that out.'

"It's over," the viewers thought, as it seemed like he was destined to get hit by the Wyvern's cataclysmic ultimate.

But they had come to that judgment far too soon.

"What is he doing?"

A bewildering scene played in the livestream.

"He's raising his sword?" 

In the face of certain death, the only thing Zeus could seemingly think of was to bring his sword high above his head.

"What's that gonna do? Don't tell me he's thinking of overcoming it by swinging his sword. What a laughable attempt it would be." 

The minds of countless viewers filled up with thoughts, but not a single one came to the right conclusion. They didn't realize what he was up to until his sword lit up in a resplendent light, rivaling the mesmerizing glow of the twin moons of Eldoria.

"Face this, you filthy tryhard!" Leon shouted as he brought his sword down with all his might. A brilliant golden arc, stretching ten meters wide and towering over five meters tall, erupted from his blade.

Whoosh!

It cut through the air as it surged forward to meet the torrent of icy breath that the wyvern had unleashed.

Even before the two forces collided, the resplendent glow of the golden arc began to suppress the chilling aura emanating from the torrent. The wyvern's body trembled in fear, and the viewers who had bet on Leon jumped to their feet in excitement as it was a clear sign that the power unleashed by Zeus far surpassed the ultimate of the wyvern.

Boom! 

With a thunderous crash, the golden arc sliced cleanly through the torrent of icy breath, parting it like Moses parting the Red Sea in the Book of Exodus.

Then, like a heavenly chariot drawn by a divine steed charging through a battlefield, it surged forward, aiming straight for the wyvern's midsection.

It was already too late for the Wyvern to save its life. If it had moved when the Divine Lunar Slash was unleashed, it might have succeeded in moving its body out of its way, but it was too confident in its empowered skill that was strengthened by its runic item, believing that it would be able to overcome all, but the opposite played out and its confidence became its own downfall.

Psssh!

The golden arc cut through the wyvern effortlessly, slicing it into two perfect halves from the middle of its body. Blood gushed out from all sides of the point of separation, as the upper half of the wyvern slid off the lower half and fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

As the wyvern was severed, the viewers erupted into a mix of emotions.

"Yes! Zeus did it! I knew he would pass the tutorial!" one viewer cheered in the chat, their excitement spreading like wildfire.

Countless others joined in, flooding the chat with cheers for the man of the hour.

Amid the celebration, dejected comments also surfaced. "No way… I bet against him passing the tutorial on his first try. Now there's nothing left in the tutorial to stop it from happening. I'm going to lose the money I've been saving up to take my girlfriend out."

"You're crying over just that? I'm going to get scolded by my wife for gambling away the bonus I earned this month from working my ass off for my company."

"How could a complete newbie pull off something like that in the tutorial? I've lost my weekly allowance! How am I going to hang out with my friends this Sunday?"

"Your friends don't let you hang out with them if you don't have money? You should've made better friends, my dude!"

Suddenly, a spicy comment popped up in the chat, drawing the attention of many. It didn't catch attention because of its content but because it was posted by a legend in the esports scene.

[YourNemesis]: "Hahaha! Your confidence is going to bite you in the ass, elder brother. My boy Zeus has defeated the greatest challenge in the tutorial, and he'll be completing it in no time. Prepare to lose to me!"

YourNemesis and his fans, who had snuck into Leon's livestream, were eagerly looking forward to seeing how Cyberblade would react. It would be best if he remained silent because that would mean he had accepted his defeat. But their expectations were shattered as Cyberblade responded in an unfazed manner.

"Don't be so sure of your victory, little brother. It's not over until the system says it's over. Look at the screen—not a single notification confirming its death has popped up yet. That can only mean one thing: it's still alive."

At Cyberblade's words, the viewers' attention snapped back to their screens. They noticed that a notification confirming Zeus's kill hadn't appeared. It could mean only one thing—the wyvern was still alive.

But how could it be alive, even in that condition?

As they focused on the screen playing Leon's livestream, they noticed something unsettling. The crown on the wyvern's head was glinting malevolently, an eerie light emanating from it.

"What's it still glowing even though its owner is dead?"

"Is it the reason behind the wyvern's survival despite its pathetic condition?"

"It's the only thing that stands out, so it has to be it."

Suddenly, the crown's glow dimmed, and to everyone's shock, the two halves of the wyvern vanished. In the next moment, the air shimmered, and an entirely whole wyvern appeared, not a scratch on its majestic body, as if the previous attack had never happened!

"No way! It's back!" The viewers gasped in disbelief.

"That crown... it's a life-saving artifact!"

Many viewers were pleased to see the wyvern return, especially those who had bet against Leon winning the fight and passing the tutorial. The one most pleased was naturally Cyberblade, who couldn't resist taunting his nemesis.

[Cyberblade]: "Looks like the real fight is just beginning. You're far from winning this bet, little brother."

"Tch!"

TheReaper clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Damn it. This wyvern is like a cockroach. It just doesn't die."

A taunt echoed through the DarkWood Forest.

"You survived that? You're really tenacious," Leon returned the words the wyvern had given him when their battle had first begun with a mocking smile.

The Wyvern was extremely offended, its pride wounded deeply. It retorted with a snarl, "Fuck you!"

Its ultimate life-saving treasure was now temporarily rendered useless because of Leon's relentless assault, and it felt nothing but seething hatred for him.

It would have charged at him in blind fury if it hadn't seen him raising his sword above his head and heard him declare, "This battle has dragged on long enough. I should end it now."

The wyvern stumbled backward in fear, its eyes wide with panic. Seeing Leon raise his sword triggered its PTSD, a trauma it developed when it was sliced into two by his previous attack.

It remembered all too well how Leon had made this same motion before unleashing the Divine Lunar Slash that had nearly killed it. If not for its artifact, it would have died. Seeing him repeat the action, the wyvern was convinced that this wasn't a one-time skill and that he was going to unleash it again. And this time it would lose its life if it got hit as its life saving item was rendered useless.

'I need to get far away from this man!'

Without hesitation, the wyvern turned tail and made a desperate run for its life.

As Leon's taunt echoed through the forest, viewers watching the livestream were left in shock, their jaws dropping at the sight. CyberBlade, ever the cool-headed strategist, couldn't help but smirk, while YourNemesis let out a triumphant laugh. "This wyvern is far more cowardly than you think, brother. Zeus merely raised his sword, and it's already retreating in fear!"

"No way in hell am I letting you get away!" Leon shouted as he charged after the fleeing wyvern. How could he let it escape after struggling for the last quarter of an hour to bring it down?

The Frost Wyvern, desperate to escape, beat its massive wings and took to the sky. A human doesn't have an aerial advantage, it thought, surely believing Leon would give up the chase.

But it underestimated his determination to butcher it.

Without hesitation, Leon activated his strongest skill—Divine Lunar Slash! His sword was thrust upward, sending a golden arc slicing through the air, aiming to cut the wyvern in half once again.

This time, the wyvern was quick to react. It managed to turn most of its body out of the way, but its left wing was caught in the attack. With one wing chopped off, the wyvern's flight spiraled out of control, plummeting toward the ground. As it descended, it struggled frantically to regain stability, and it seemed like it might succeed—until Leon intervened.

Before the wyvern could regain control, Leon dashed upward using his empowered Level 2 Quickstep skill repeatedly, closing the distance between them in seconds. The wyvern only noticed him from the corner of its eye when, with a swift and brutal slice, he cut through its other wing, throwing it completely off balance and sending it spiraling down to the earth with incredible speed.

Bam!

The Frost Wyvern crashed into the ground with a thunderous impact, kicking up clouds of dust and debris. Its HP rapidly decreased as it bled profusely from both the stumps where its wings had been torn off.

"I am not done just yet," Leon activated Quickstep again, quickly landing on its head with his sword raised high for the final strike.

But before he could bring it down, the wyvern's tail, which had secretly coiled around his ankle, tightened, picked him up, and tossed him away.

He was sent hurtling through the air, crashing through several trees before managing to regain his footing.

A notification flashed on the screen.

[-300 HP]

Leon only spared it a glance before bending down to pick up his other sword. Coincidentally, he had been thrown right where it had dropped after failing to pierce the wyvern's eye due to the effect of its runic item.

With a blessed sword in each hand, he immediately rushed towards the wyvern. There wasn't much time left before the weapons in his hands lost their enchantment.

By the time he was only two hundred meters away, the wyvern, now grounded, wounded, and crippled, shakily stood up and roared in desperation.

Gwarghhh!

The roar was followed by its ultimate attack—a torrent of icy breath aimed directly at Leon, determined to freeze him where he was.

Leon used Quickstep once to bridge half the distance between them, appearing right before the torrent.

He didn't dare cover the rest of the distance using Quickstep, fearing that he would be frozen if he charged through its ultimate with a movement skill.

Instead, he relied on his defensive skill.

Thanks to the Fairy Queen's blessing, the cooldown of all his basic skills was reduced to zero, allowing him to repeatedly cast Block.

The empowered Block allowed him to deflect 20 attacks per use when wielding two swords. Repeatedly casting it enabled him to walk through the torrent of icy breath, but not without cost—his body was freezing, albeit far more slowly than if he had been directly hit by the Extinguisher of Flames. He was able to block the physical aspect of the Extinguisher of Flames by repeatedly using his basic defensive skill but not the magical.

"Wow!"

The viewers watched in awe as Leon slashed through the Wyvern's ultimate that could freeze a person on contact with his swords, all to reach it and deal the final blow.

Seeing him charge out of its ultimate alive The Wyvern was terrified out of its mind. In its eyes, Leon had seemingly slashed through death itself, through fate and destiny, all to reap its soul.

"Die!"

With a powerful roar, Leon drove his sword deep into its chest, silencing its ongoing attack.

Its heart was pierced.

"Arghhhh!"

The creature let out an ear-splitting, pained roar. Leon bled from his ears, but he didn't let go of his sword.

"Why don't you fall? Why?" the wyvern rasped. Its voice was weak, but its confusion, hatred, and despair were palpable in each word.

Leon was encased in two inches of ice, frostbitten all over, and it was a miracle he could still move at all. So the wyvern was shocked to see him still standing, still fighting. It wouldn't have been able to do any of that if it was in his shoes, the wyvern had to admit.

"Because of my beliefs!" Leon screamed. The cold had bitten into his senses—his eyes and arms felt as heavy as lead, his body lifeless. He felt as good as dead, but something still drove him on. It was his beliefs.

"Beliefs?" The wyvern muttered in disbelief.

"Yes, but I don't expect you to understand them. After all, your beliefs are ridiculous. Faced with someone stronger than you, they don't help you in any way. But my beliefs… they give me the courage to endure life's harshest trials in silence. They push me to become better than what I believe myself to be."

Leon shouted these words because talking loudly was the only thing keeping him conscious. His vision had dimmed to a tiny circle. He didn't realize the wyvern had raised its claw to crush him, but despite not knowing that, he knew piercing its heart wouldn't be enough to kill it. So, he activated Slash.

The wyvern's massive body was diced into 140 pieces, and whatever life was left in it was snuffed out. Its raised claw dropped before it could be positioned over him. It fell beside him with a defeated thud.

Ding!

The sound of the system notification popping up rang out.

It was a sign for the viewers that the terrific, mind-blowing battle had finished and Zeus was the victor.