361 ...And The Strongest Character
KLANG—!!!
Steel bit into steel and sparks flew. Nero was pushed back as soon as the blade of his bastard sword clashed against Leo's halberd.
Reeling back from the impact, he quickly regained his balance and lifted his sword to block an incoming attack.
KLANG—!!!
Once again, Nero was pushed back more than a couple of meters from the forceful exchange of blades.
Instantly, doubt crept into his mind.
'Am… Am I really being overpowered?!' Nero thought, clearly bewildered.
His block earlier was flawless and he had used a substantial amount of mana to enforce his body.
By all means, he should have stood there unhinged, as firm as an immovable wall of steel. So why was he being thrust back so easily?!
The answer became clear to Nero as he clashed blades with the cloaked figure for the third time and used the relic in his eye – the Seer Of Unknown.
KLAAANG—!!
This time, Nero was thrown even farther backward, his feet skidding against the road despite the resistance from the rough concrete.
Nero struck his sword in the ground to kill the momentum propelling him back and came to an abrupt halt.
He understood what was happening. The cloaked figure wasn't stronger than him in terms of raw power.
No, actually, the masked man was simply striking at his sword's weak points. It was not him who was being overpowered but his weapon!
Every weapon had at least one or more of these weak points depending on the user's handling and mastery over it.
However, these weak points were not fixed on exact spots on a weapon.
No, even a slight shift in the weapon's balance or the manner in which it was wielded could alter their positions.
In fairly simple terms… These said weak points were nothing but openings in one's weapon technique.
It wasn't anything new. Nero knew about it all. He knew that no technique was ever perfect, and thus one would possess these exploitable vulnerabilities.
Yes, the more complex a technique is, the easier it is to mask these openings. And a master could even fake weak points on their weapons.
However, what did startle Nero was the sheer fact that the masked man dismantled his technique before even exchanging the first blow.
Even Lucas, who really impressed Nero when he impeccably countered his weapon arts during the King's Tournament, matched this level of proficiency!
For the love of god, even his own Master couldn't discern an enemy's technique before even crossing blades with them first!
This was simply madness!
However, Nero didn't let this fact get to his mind and hinder his movements.
Instead, he lunged forward with the same intensity from which he was thrown back, unleashing a torrent of sword slashes upon the masked man before him in rapid succession.
This time, he changed his technique.
Each attack smoothly flowed forward and seamlessly transitioned into the next, executed with nothing but a lethal intent that effortlessly connected one move to the one following after.
What could have been a chaotic frenzy of utter destruction instead looked more like a captivating dance of death as Nero used his mesmerizing swordplay to press forth.
However, Nero's attempts to cut down the cloaked man were just rendered futile with disheartening ease.
Leo parried each one of his sword slashes and thrusts, even the feints, with nothing but utmost mastery.
His halberd kept Nero at a safe distance most of the time but if once in a blue moon, an attack managed to slip by, it was either blocked or countered by his short spear.
Nero had never seen a man wield dual weapons with such flawless ease. There were zero openings in his defense and all his attacks were unblockable!
Even after analyzing everything with the Seer Of Unknown, Nero couldn't detect any weaknesses in Leo's technique.
It was as if his technique was specially tailored to his unique, unconventional, and unpredictable battle style.
By now, Nero knew that he couldn't defeat this man! At least not with a sword and not alone! Thankfully… he wasn't alone!
Klang—!!
Leo batted away Nero's bastard sword with one hand and was about to plant his short spear in his chest when suddenly a man plummeted from above.
It was Raymond. He descended to the ground like a meteor and lunged at Leo from the side with a long dagger in hand.
But before he could even step into the striking range of his weapon, Leo acted first and brought down the blade of his halberd on Raymond.
The uniformed officer had no choice but to block the fatal attack using his dagger, the impact sending him crashing down on his knee.
Instead of retracting his weapon after a successful blow, Leo continued to apply pressure with his halberd and pressed Raymond down in place.
Using this chance when his focus was elsewhere, Nero pounced on the cloaked man from the right side with his sword pulled back.
As soon as he stepped closer, particles of radiant white light began to envelop the blade of his sword, lighting it up in an azure hue.
He was about to unleash a horizontal slash at the speed of a light flash on the cloaked man when he felt a sharp pain in his chest.
"...Khuak!" Nero's eyes widened as he coughed a mouthful of blood before swiftly moving his gaze down to scan his body.
There, right where his heart should've been, a short spear made of some black metal was sticking out from his chest.
'Wh-When?' Nero thought in his mind as he staggered back in pain, blood dripping down from the side of his quivering lips. 'When did he attack me?'
It was a genuine question. When did Leo attack him? After all, his focus was on Raymond.
The answer was simple.
His focus was never on anyone else aside from Nero. He simply used Raymond as bait to lure Nero closer to him in the range of his short spear.
Once he was there, Leo just had to discreetly aim at his heart and finish him off with a single thrust of his spear.
"...Heh," Nero's lips curled up into a wide smirk as he ignored the pain and stepped forward.
"....?!" Leo's eyes widened in astonishment but before he could understand what was happening, a blinding flash of light illuminated the area.
Nero's sword moved like a strike of lighting, tracing an arc as it made its way toward Leo's throat.
Swoosh—!!
Kach—!!
"...Huh?!" But much to Nero's surprise, Leo was barely quick enough to awkwardly tilt his neck in time and avoid getting his throat slit.
His sword did manage to leave a shallow wound on the side of the cloaked figure's neck, but that was all!
Now that his horizontal slash had missed, Nero was wide open for a split second. He knew that was all the time in the world the cloaked man needed to punish him.
Fortunately, while Leo was about to do precisely that, Raymond pushed away the halberd pressing him down and leaped forward.
But Leo simply moved out of the way by sidestepping and delivering a ruthless kick to Nero's chest in one fluid motion.
The forceful kick sent him flying back a couple of meters but Nero managed to land on his feet.
He then swayed a little and fell to one knee before breaking the shaft of the lusterless short spear sticking out from his chest.
Thankfully, Nero was born with a rare condition in which his heart was on the right instead. Had he been born normal, Leo would've killed him today.
No one in this world, aside from his late mother, knew about it.
Well, she and Lucas… but Nero didn't need to know that.
A painful tremor coursed through Nero's body as he broke the spear but didn't dare to dislodge it completely as it would leave a gaping hole in his chest.
The last thing he wanted was blood loss right now.
Even though his heart was spared, it was still painful having his lungs pierced. He wished he had brought a healing potion along with him today.
Meanwhile, Raymond was left alone to confront Leo. Anastasia was helping him from time to time by shooting an arrow or two, but it was hard to take a clear shot when the two combatants were so dangerously close to each other.
Raymond was no match for Leo. In just a few seconds after Nero was thrown out of the confrontation, he received several lacerations throughout his body.
His black vest was in rags now, exposing his bloodied and battered skin underneath his uniform.
However, regardless of the agonizing wounds and organ-rending pain, Raymond refused to give up.
The wind twirled around his dagger and each time he moved it was as if a tiny yet powerful hurricane had rolled over the area.
Despite the raging gales, Leo was easily evading any life-threatening attacks while countering with a barrage of his own.
Slowly but surely, he was wearing down Raymond.
Just as another one of Leo's attacks was about to connect with him, Raymond took a swift sidestep and thrust his leg forward.
Leo raised his halberd in an attempt to effortlessly block the kick, but right then the ground under his feet turned soft.
Suddenly, Leo lost his footing and when the kick connected with his halberd, it was much more staggering than it should've been.
Thwaaack—!!
The powerful front kick hurtled Leo backward, causing him to soar through the air until he collided with a nearby cafe.
The impact of his crash shattered the cafe's wall, and Leo tumbled through to the other side.
