"Well... then, I guess it's our turn. Are you ready, Baskerville?"
The battle between Nagisa and Ruffie is over, and Leon stands in the middle of the field and declares.
"This time, I'm not going to let you win. Are you ready to kiss the ground?"
"Aren't you full of motivation? I'd get goosebumps if a guy hit on me with such passion."
I follow Leon's lead and move toward the field.
With my mock battle sword in my right hand, I face Leon head-on.
"Let's see how your training has paid off, shall we? I hope it won't disappoint me."
"I promise I won't bore you. Even I'm not fighting a battle that can't be won."
Leon's words and attitude are filled with confidence.
It's been a month since the Demon King's resurrection. I don't know what kind of training he has been doing but I guess he is so sure that he can beat me that he challenges me to a mock battle.
"Brave, you can do it!"
"Don't lose! Take him down!"
"Leon-kun, stay strong!"
Leon seems to be more spirited than usual, and surrounding classmates are cheering him on.
Sadly, most of the cheers are for Leon. As for my cheering...
"Goshujin-sama, do your best to finish him off, desu~no!"
"Zenon-sama, do your best!"
"My Lord, I believe in your victory!"
...Anyway, there's more than one.
I mean, those three girls are having physical relations with me.
"Baskerville. Good luck to you!"
"Don't disappoint Urza-chaan!"
By the way, Jean and Arisa were waving at me, too.
Remembering back to the time when my classmates treated me like a tumor when I first entered the school, I have gained a lot of allies.
"Both sides seem to be well prepared. Let's start the match!"
Jagath-sensei raises his right hand and announces the start of the fight.
At the same time as the signal, Leon and I start to move.
"Dark magic - Shadow Edge!"
"Light magic - Shine Edge!"
The magic from both of our hands collided head-on. The two blades, one black and the other white, collide and bounce off each other, creating a shockwave.
"Haaaa!"
Leon kicked the ground with his waving spirit.
This is an attempt to check me with magic. And using that opening, he closes the distance at once and slashes me with a sideways slash.
"Well... his reaction is not bad..."
But I leap in the air and evade the slash.
Then, using the momentum, I twist and turn in midair and slash him with my sword.
"Whoa...!"
Leon ducks low to avoid my attack... then he leaps from his low position.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Using the spring of his body, he launched a thrust at me from diagonally below with great force.
From evading to counterattacking, he strikes back in a fluid movement. This reaction speed is indeed a hero. Such potential is astonishing.
Leon is strong.
If it was only talent and sense, he definitely surpassed me.
"Take ittttttttttt!"
"But... I'm not going to let you defeat me like this!"
I use the air as a foothold and leap to greater heights.
Leon's thrust narrowly misses me and ends up hitting empty.
This is an aerial movement action using the [Taijutsu] skill - 'Tenpo (天歩)'.
By using the scaffold of magic power that I built in the air, I jumped up two steps, narrowly escaping from Leon's attack.
"Kuh... I can't reach it!"
"Well, that's too bad. And take this... Shadow Javelin!"
"Ggh!?"
Then I hit him with a dark intermediate magic attack.
Leon is unable to evade the attack in time due to his awkward stance, and is hit by a jet-black javelin shot over his head.
Leon is blown away by the magic and rolls on the ground.
"Ah...!"
I expected him to faint and the game was over... but he quickly got up from the blow.
His eyes are filled with a fiery fighting spirit, showing that his will to fight has not yet waned.
"Not yet! I won't be defeated just like this!"
"Heh... you're quite impressive. I'm starting to think you're a little better than I thought."
Though it looked like my dark magic had hit him directly, Leon had canceled the attack with a light magic just before it hit him.
It seems that he was not able to completely eliminate the impact, but he avoided being deadlocked.
"It seems that you have trained not only for fighting against monsters but also for fighting against other people, right? Have you gained experience against bandits and thieves?"
"Yes, just like that swordsman we fought in the final exam, there are humans who have joined the Demon King's army. I won't show the same poor behavior as I did then."
"Very well. So... this is round two then?"
As I land on the ground and ready my sword, Leon's mouth curls into a belligerent grin.
"Yeah... it's time to get serious! Let's go, Baskerville!"
"...!"
Leon's body immediately burst into a golden light.
It's as if he's a fighting tribe from a famous manga that gets stronger and stronger.
"Overlimit...'Tensho Tsuyori (Heavenly Fighting Spirit/天将闘依)'!"
At the sight of Leon enveloped in a golden light, I growl, my lips pursing into a smile.
"Well... it looks like you've finally reached that point. You've learned to control the hero's power with your own will."
The 'Tensho Tsuyori (Heavenly Fighting Spirit/天将闘依)' is a skill that only Leon can master in the game by raising his skill level of [Hero Blood] to 60 or more.
While activating this ability, all the status values are doubled, and the damage against demons (Mazoku) and the dark attribute is doubled.
"And, if [Hero Blood] skill is over 60, the condition for class change is ready...!"
That is, it means that Leon's job has been changed from 'Rune Knight' to a higher-level job. Was this the reason for Leon's confidence?
"You've finally become a ‘Hero’... Leon Brave!"
"Come on... take me seriously, Zenon Baskerville!"
Leon Brave, who has changed his job from 'Rune Knight' to 'Hero', comes charging straight at me, clad in a golden light.
I laugh with my fangs bared, and charge at the oncoming hero.
