Gritting his fangs, Kl'Drog fixed his predatory gaze upon us, his vertical pupils locked in place.
I mean, let's be real, he must have already realized the futility of his chances for escape.
Unless he chooses to fight us—well, fight with Leo specifically—there's simply no possible way for him to break free from this situation.
But then again, fighting Leo would be comparable to a death sentence.
After all, he was there when Leo casually slaughtered his comrades without even lifting a finger.
How could he even think about standing against such overwhelming might? But, as I said earlier, he had no other choice.
With resolute determination etched on his beast-like face, Kl'Drog summoned a long silver crossguard sword into his grasp.
Suddenly, spikes sprouted from the hilt of the sword, impaling Kl'Drog's grip, and in the next moment, its silver blade turned a deep shade of crimson.
Nonetheless, Leo remained unfazed, shifting his attention toward me.
With a nonchalant smile on his face, he started speaking as if we were here to take a leisure stroll, rather than confronting a formidable high-vampire.
"Do you have any idea how I've managed to gain such an exalted reputation and formidable power despite only having a relatively average mana core level?" Leo inquired.
Observing that Leo had turned his back on him, the high-vampire tried to attack, only to discover that he couldn't move an inch.
Kl'Drog's eyes widened, but regardless of his efforts, his feet were firmly anchored to the ground.
A crease formed on his forehead as he looked down.
He saw several luminous azure chains, made up entirely of mana, bursting forth from the ground and trapping his feet, effectively shackling him in place.
Before he could think of a solution, an overwhelming pressure descended upon the high-vampire's shoulders, akin to a mountain falling upon him.
Despite his inhuman strength, Kl'Drog's knees buckled, and he collapsed onto all fours.
Throughout all of this, Leo's unwavering gaze remained fixed on me. He was waiting for my response.
In truth, I already knew about his source of power. While the novel never mentioned Leo's precise mana core level, it did show his capacity.
I knew just how strong Leo was and how he was able to achieve such power.
However, feigning ignorance, I shook my head and posited, "Could it perhaps be because of your impeccable technique?"
Leo let out a heartfelt chuckle. "I would have been happy if that was the case. But regrettably, technique, regardless of how refined it is, can only carry one so far. Yes, it can bridge the gap between two people in a fight, but only until the gap in their strengths isn't too big."
I secretly glanced at the high-vampire commander, who struggled to draw breath, let alone rise to his feet, before returning to Leo and asked, "So then, if it's not your technique, what is it?"
A smile graced Leo's lips as he replied, "It's a mana art. Think of it like a magic spell, albeit not entirely. In fact, it bears more semblance to martial arts than magic spells. I call it a mystic art, as it surpasses all human understanding of mana and its manipulation."
Even though I already knew what Leo was about to tell me, an inexplicable curiosity gripped my heart.
It was as if I had always wanted to learn the secrets of his technique for quite some time now.
The desire to know tugged at me—a mix of curiosity and excitement. Yes, I don't know why but I was excited.
Noticing the glimmer in my eyes, Leo spoke up with a genuine smile:
"The name I've given to this mystic art is Symphony. Through it, I attune myself to the environment and control the ambient mana within it with my will."
Despite knowing all of it already, I let a shocked expression show up on my face, faking a stunned reaction.
Observing this with his smile, Leo continued, "Basically, my mana core resonates in harmony with the mana surrounding me. Also, the mana network within me becomes one with my surroundings. In simple words…"
Before Leo could continue to elaborate, I chipped in, "You become one with nature itself and control the mana present around you."
The corner of Leo's lips curled up as he affirmed, "Exactly. Be it spellcasting, enhancing my body, or using martial arts, I can do it all. I can even exert authority over Mother Nature herself. Additionally, I can also nullify any magic spells aimed at me, forcing my enemies to rely solely on martial arts or reinforcement spells if they wish to fight me."
Though I already knew some of the applications of his mystic art, hearing him recount it still shocked me a little for some reason.
Leo was, quite literally, a force of nature.
It's not really surprising that Nero had to use all seven of his Heavenly Swords to barely defeat him.
Before Leo could continue, a guttural, beastly grunt reached our ears. It was the high-vampire, still struggling to break free.
Leo's gaze shifted towards the sound, his brows lifting as if he had momentarily forgotten about his captive.
"Anyway, we'll talk more about this later," Leo declared with a sigh and very casually waved his hand.
Almost instantly, the azure chains binding the high-vampire shattered into a cascade of azure light particles, and the crushing force falling on him also disappeared.
The high-vampire commander was once again free to move. Wasting no time, the bloodsucker swiftly lunged at Leo, rushing toward his own death.
Leo's smile widened as if he had been anticipating this.
Immediately, a single red line of light streaked through the air, tracing an arc with Kl'Drog's head in its way.
Yet, before the thin red flash could reach his neck, Kl'Drog raised his crimson blade, intercepting the oncoming attack.
Sparks flew and the red line was abruptly extinguished.
"Nice one!" Leo quipped, a trace of amusement lacing his words. "At least you don't seem as weak as your comrades."
Despite the amusement in Leo's tone, Kl'Drog didn't take those words lightly. Enraged, he rushed forward, chanting a spell.
Suddenly, from the shadows all around us, dark, obsidian spikes shot forth, aimed to skewer both Leo and myself from every conceivable angle.
Thaaak—
However, before the pitch-black spikes of darkness could even reach us, a net of radiant azure cracks formed on them, causing the spikes to shatter into tiny fragments that dissolved back into the shadows.
Kl'Drog's eyes widened, yet he didn't slow down his charge. In fact, he continued to speed up.
Leo, with a nonchalant smile, lifted his hand and flicked his fingers in the air. Kl'Drog's eyes widened even more as he hastily cast another spell.
In response to his will, shadows around him surged from the ground, solidifying into a tangible cocoon of darkness that enveloped the high-vampire in an instant.
All this happened in a fraction of a second, sparing me no time to grasp what was even going on or why the high-vampire cast another spell– a defensive one at that!?
At the next moment, I understood his reason.
As soon as Leo's fingers were done flicking through the air, the sound barrier broke and an immense shockwave of destruction erupted.
The shockwave rolled forward and utterly obliterated or toppled over everything in its path.
The shockwave soon collided with the cocoon of darkness, shattering it easily and hurling the high-vampire, who was trying to take cover in it, backward in the air.
Soon, his body ungracefully tumbled across the ground as he rolled a few times, letting the momentum drag him back.
Halting his movement, Kl'Drog soon jumped up to his feet.
Before Leo could react, the high-vampire's body disintegrated as he jumped into the shadows, vanishing from sight.
Huh?
From the looks of it, Kl'Drog had stopped entertaining any thought of fighting Leo and now he was trying to flee back to the Global City.
Perhaps he thought about hiding within the city for some time and hoping to get Leo off his trail.
Such a task was going to be difficult if not borderline impossible, considering how many defense personnel were out in search for him.
However, even escaping Leo was going to turn out to be as futile as fighting him.
Master had no intentions of letting Kl'Drog escape. And without his will, there was no way he could achieve it.
As soon as Kl'Drog disappeared into the shadows, Leo heaved a sigh and raised his hand.
Several hundred meters aloft, a radiant sphere of luminous white flames quickly materialized.
Burning with immolating intensity, the sphere of white flames looked as if a sun had spawned amidst the night sky.
The sphere of incandescent white flames dispelled the pervasive shadows, flooding the surroundings with blinding light.
As a result of that, the very shadows Kl'Drog was using to hide dissipated, forcing him to emerge back into the material world.
Even when he was forced out of the shadows, Kl'Drog did not stop running away.
He scurried awkwardly with his back turned to us. By now, he had managed to put a considerable distance between us.
Leo shook his head, and the blazing orb of white flames suddenly started to reshape itself into a long fiery javelin.
"No, no, no," I muttered under my breath, but it was too late; events were already in motion. In one fluid movement, Leo brought down his hand.
As if waiting for that cue, the white-flame javelin, which was suspended in the air before, plummeted down at Kl'Drog.
The hapless vampire had no time to even react before the colossal javelin made of immolating white flames struck the ground, creating a massive conflagration upon impact.
Booooom—!!!
