Amery's style suddenly changed. He shifted to the side, drawing a circular arc with one sword and piercing straight forward with the other. His hands moved independently of one another, a beautiful display of duality.
It looked as though he was drawing a bow and arrow across the air.
BANG!
The arrow cut through the skies, appearing before Leonel's throat in an instant. However, with just a flicker of Leonel's eyes, the arrow vanished into thin air, he didn't even bother to block or slow his attack, slashing down toward Amery's exposed shoulder.
Amery's pupils constricted. He hadn't expected this to happen in the slightest and was a bit late to react. Even so, his speed was exceptional. Rather than moving his feet, it was his attack speed that was on full display instead. The sword that had been drawing the body of a bow through the air continued its elegant arc, slipping the side of Leonel's spear body and parrying it off to the side.
At the same time, he shifted his stance forward, closing the advantage of range Leonel's weapon gave him to continue thrusting his piercing sword forward.
His two arms seemed to work on their own and together at once, forming an air tight defense that could react and shift on its own. He didn't seem to have to think before he reacted at all, his body in a seamless sort of higher state.
Leonel shifted his own stance, the Void Star Force Star to his back pulsing once before a Force Art seemed to be completed in an instant.
Amery felt as though his thrust had slowed considerably and yet sped up at the same time. It was an eerie feeling that made it difficult to tell which way was up and which was down, but by the time he had begun to unravel the mysteries, Leonel's parried spear had spun in his hands, recovering and sweeping back with a momentum that made the air crackle and pop.
BANG!
Amery blocked with his second sword with a deft precision, his first thrust sword barely stopping before Leonel's chest as he ran out of momentum.
He didn't quite have enough strength to fight back, his body being sent flying to the side and losing a bit of the initiative.
Leonel thrust several times in the skies, the tip of his spear vanishing and suddenly fusing several strikes into one as they appeared before Amery just as the latter had lost his balance.
Even in this situation, Amery's calm hadn't changed in the slightest. His Absolute Sword Domain rumbled to life, but just when it seemed that he would use it to defend, its purpose changed entirely.
Amery struck out with his sword several times and his Absolute Sword Domain vanished, forming three cyclones that appeared around Leonel all at once.
Leonel's gaze narrowed. He took a step and vanished through space, dodging out of the way of the approaching cyclones, but Amery had already recovered, using the spine of his sword to block his attack. The level of skill and confidence in oneself it took to do such a thing was entirely off the charts.
However, despite the fact both seemed to be doing impossible things, they didn't blink even a single time. It seemed to come naturally to the two of them, their cold indifference weighing heavily on the hearts of the spectators as they vanished once again.
It felt like every single one of their clashes were just as deadly, each one carrying a close shave with death that both of them had to dance with. And yet, despite this, they were entirely unmoved.
By the dozenth exchange, Leonel was absolutely certain that Amery, too, had an analytical Ability Index. In fact, it might very well be one with an exceptionally high Dream Force affinity as well because he was entirely unmoved by Leonel's clones.
Amery seemed to have decided that this was the case for Leonel as well, and as though they had both come to some sort of tacit understanding, their gazes lost their placidness and became incomparably vicious in an instant.
In that moment, when the flip switched, they seemed to have become entirely different people. Their howls filled the air and a violent sort of momentum started to come from their bodies, an aura that could only be described as demonic.
Amery's pale skin began to redden and the billowing blue Vital Star Force coming from Leonel became a blinding sheen of crimson.
BANG!
The air around them exploded.
Amery's swords crossed and Leonel grabbed his spear with both hands so forcefully that the polearm almost creaked and warped.
It was a violent clash, even more so than the past ones. If the others flattened the land, this one devastated it.
Their Forces were entirely wild and out of control, expanding in all directions without a thought for stamina or those around them.
Leonel grinned wildly, a crimson Force billowing from him, forming a sparkling nebulae in the skies. It felt as though he had become the center of his own universe.
At the same time, Amery's eyes had become entirely red, such a deep shade, in fact, that it looked more magenta than it did red. His long hair whipped about wildly with such fierceness that it almost looked as though they wanted to fly away on their own.
Veins popped up across their bodies, Amery's exposed and Leonel's hidden beneath his Divine Armor. Their momentum rose like a tide and suddenly, two gems on the back of Amery's hands began to glow with their own light.
One was such a deep jet black that if not for the surge of crimson, it would have been impossible to spot in the first place.
The other could only be described as bloody. Its light was incredibly heavy and almost liquid, dripping down his hands and fingers.
Even in his current state, Leonel recognized them immediately.
Innate Nodes. Not just one, but two.
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