Chapter 0.53: Jin vs Leona I
Scene continues from the dining hal
The sound of clinking silverware faded into silence as the noble footsteps of a goddess echoed through the grand obsidian corridors.
Naoko Roche, adorned in her flowing black gown, walked ahead with the elegance of a moonlit phantom. Her silvery hair shimmered beneath the torchlight, cascading like mercury down her back. Each step she took sent the sharp **clack** of high heels slicing through the stillness—measured, slow, and regal. Her silver eyes, cold and timeless, stared forward with an expression carved from marble.
Behind her followed her son, the heir of the Roche family—**Jin rochey.
His raven-black hair framed a sharp, unreadable face, and a single red ribbon was tied around his left wrist like a blood oath. Crimson eyes glowed with quiet intensity beneath dark lashes, and his entirely black attire—fitted, elegant, ominous—clung to his tall figure like a shadow made flesh. On his left hand, a leather glove whispered against his skin as he walked.
Next came Amelia Amberhart. With every stride, her presence lit the air around her. Her hair, blazing like wildfire, flowed in defiance of gravity, and her golden eyes gleamed with restrained wrath and nobility. Her gown whispered power with each movement.
Following her was her daughter, **Reina Amberhart**, the image of inherited fire. Her flame-red hair mirrored her mother's, but her golden eyes were dim, hollow—burnt from within. A faint trail of her floral perfume lingered, dancing behind her like a ghost of the life she once had.
At the rear of the group walked **Leona Lionheart**. Her snowy white hair shimmered in the light like starlight on untouched ice, and her piercing blue eyes bore a quiet fury. The emblem of her house—a golden lion entwined with a sword—was stitched proudly onto the chest of her combat uniform.
They moved silently, a line of legends in motion, headed toward the eastern wing of the Roche estate.
There, beyond a garden of dead roses and a colonnade of moonstone pillars, lay a vast arena—**the Eastern Training Grounds
As the ornate gates creaked open, the five figures stepped into the training field, a massive expanse of polished stone surrounded by towering walls of enchanted obsidian. Artificial mana moon hung low and full, casting silver light over the grounds, giving everything a dreamlike, ethereal glow.
Without a word, Jin walked to the center. The wind brushed past his coat as he extended his hand into the air—and with a ripple of space and silence, **Nihil** answered.
A beautiful, terrifying blade formed in his grasp, shaped from pure nothingness. The sword shimmered with dark luster, its surface carved with mysterious, shifting runes that seemed to breathe with the void. It felt ancient and unbound, as if reality itself bent to its will.
From the opposite side of the arena, Leona stepped forward and unsheathed her own sword—a long, majestic weapon engraved with the golden sigil of the Lionheart lineage. It pulsed with noble mana, forged from generations of honor and battlefield supremacy.
Her stance was perfect—centered, grounded, eyes locked on Jin like a lioness watching a storm.
Jin tilted his head slightly, a faint smile dancing on his lips.
"Are you ready?" he asked softly.
His voice was calm. Almost too calm. A voice untouched by pressure, by fear—unmoving like the moon.
Leona narrowed her eyes, then replied with quiet resolve,
"Always."
-_-
-_-
Without warning, **Jin vanished**.
In the blink of an eye, he was in front of her, and their blades collided with a deafening clash. Sparks exploded from the point of contact, and a shockwave rippled outward, rustling the trees outside the arena walls.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
( The sound of swords clashing )
Their swords danced with inhuman speed—slashes, parries, counters. Leona's movements were precise and fluid, each strike calculated and righteous, honed from the traditional Lionheart discipline. Jin, by contrast, was like flowing ink—smooth, unpredictable, serpentine. Every motion was effortless, as though he were merely *remembering* how to move.
The **air cracked** with mana as both warriors infused their blades—Leona with golden light, Jin with a dark haze of lunar mana.
Suddenly, Leona twisted, unleashing a *Lionheart Strike*, her sword slicing in a wide arc glowing with the might of her ancestors.
But Jin didn't dodge.
He *walked* into it.
And just before impact—**Nihil moved on its own**. A shimmering barrier formed, stopping her blade inches away from Jin's neck. The void around him pulsed, and his red eyes glowed faintly.
"She's fast," he murmured, eyes half-lidded. "But not fast enough."
He spun and unleashed a strike so clean, so fast, it barely registered—sending her sliding back.
Jin took one step forward, then another—and raised **Nihil**.
**"First Star."**
He stabbed the air—and with a roar like tearing sky, a **red comet** shot forward, shaped like a burning star with a long tail of deathly energy. Leona barely managed to block, the explosion knocking her off balance as mana shimmered around her form.
Before she could recover—he was already above her.
!Clang!
Their swords clashed again, a storm of sparks lighting up the arena. Leona's breath grew short. He was holding back—she knew it. But even this version of Jin was relentless, calm, and terrifying.
She answered with a **Lionheart Crescent**, a glowing arc of mana, forcing him back a step.
Jin narrowed his eyes slightly.
"…Impressive," he said. "Don't disappoint me."
Then he vanished again.
...
heat:Thank you very much for reading. I used a program that corrects spelling errors. As I said, I am not good at the English language, so I have two options: either to write the novel in my mother tongue, which I am good at, then translate it, and the results will be disastrous, or to write it in English despite the spelling errors in a program, then click to correct the words.
Name of the app I use to write> One drive
Also the application> tera box
When you write, a red line appears under the word, meaning a correction. \(^_^)/ \(^_^)/