Book 1 Chapter 541

541.

Leo kicked the ground.

He closed the distance to Berkhia at tremendous speed.

His movements seemed to transcend the mere concept of speed.

Clang-!

At that moment, Leo's sword was blocked by something.

Leo's eyes narrowed.

Unbeknownst to him, a sword was now gripped in Berkhia's hand.

Clash-clash-clack-!

Sparks flew between the two swords.

At that instant, Leo's pupils widened.

'Super-senses.'

Leo instantly entered the realm of super-senses.

Along with it, he activated the aura throughout his body.

Clash-clash-clash-clash-clash-clash-clash-!

In a fleeting moment, ten sparks flew, and Leo and Berkhia's swords simultaneously bounced off each other.

Leo narrowed his eyes.

Ten exchanges of blows had occurred in that short span.

Thud-!

As soon as Leo's foot touched the ground, he immediately charged towards Berkhia.

With his sword aimed, Leo thrust forward.

Berkhia, without even looking at Leo, quickly spun counter-clockwise, using his planted foot as a pivot.

The blade flew precisely towards Leo's neck.

Thud-!

At that moment, Leo placed his palm on Berkhia's sword surface and applied force.

The sword remained motionless, as if pressing down on a giant boulder.

But Leo didn't panic.

It was never intended to twist the sword's path in the first place.

Whoosh-!

Leo's body shot upwards rapidly.

He used the force embedded in Berkhia's sword to lift his body and evade the blade.

Clang-!

Berkhia twisted his wrist, attempting to cut Leo's palm.

Leo pushed Berkhia's sword away, creating distance.

Whoosh-!

Berkhia didn't miss the chance and closed the distance.

Swoosh-swoosh-clack-!

The sound of a blade cutting through the air.

'I feel nothing.'

Nothing was felt from the swinging sword.

No passion, no anger.

Not even a hint of killing intent.

It was natural.

The Berkhia of now had his reason shattered.

What remained was the instinct of a revenant, trying to bring the living into the same state as himself.

It was natural that no killing intent was felt.

Leo pulled the sword hilt inward, gripping it.

His index finger and thumb moved close enough to touch the blade.

Making the remaining hilt longer.

Thud-!

Leo charged back towards Berkhia, who had reached within his immediate vicinity.

Clang! Clang!

Sword and sword crossed endlessly, sharp sounds reverberating.

Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-!

The sharp friction sound of blades.

Sword energy scattered into the air.

The surrounding area was devastated by its fragments.

Slice- slice-

Fragments of sword energy cut Leo's body.

Blood seeped from various parts of his body, but Leo paid no mind.

At that moment.

Leo released the strength in his hand, loosening his grip.

The sword slipped on his palm.

Leo's attack interval, slightly.

Very slightly, lengthened.

It was an extremely dangerous action.

In the ceaseless exchange of blows, it was an action where he might lose his sword to his opponent's blade if he made a single mistake, but Leo was composed.

The short but distinctly lengthened attack interval confused Berkhia's sense of distance.

The idea was simple.

But it was an irregular move that allowed for not even a tiny mistake.

It would be a fatal wound if it failed, but its effectiveness was just as certain.

Slash-!

Leo's sword cut Berkhia's wrist, which held the sword.

Normally, the victory would have been decided.

But Berkhia didn't hesitate and further closed the distance to Leo.

Wham-!

With his uncut hand, he struck the back of Leo's sword-holding hand.

Leo blocked the attack using his armor.

However, his sword-holding left hand felt crushed.

For an ordinary swordsman, it would be a critical injury.

But Leo, without batting an eye, thrust his fist into Berkhia's abdomen, who had lunged in.

Thwack-!

With an unusual sound, Berkhia was thrown back.

Even as this happened, Berkhia snatched his severed hand that was floating in the air and kicked Leo's arm.

Crunch-!

The bone in Leo's right arm broke and dangled.

Boom-crash-clang-!

The flying Berkhia crashed into buildings, collapsing several of them.

Eiran and Chen Xia stared wide-eyed at the battle unfolding before them.

"Their caliber is different."

Lunia muttered in a trembling voice.

She wasn't a knight.

But she could tell how absurdly high the level of the battle before her was.

The fight, as seen through Lunia's eyes, was quite literally of a different caliber.

"It's not just a matter of different caliber."

Eiran swallowed dryly.

"That's a different dimension altogether."

"Yes, exactly."

Chen Xia picked up where Eiran left off.

Her fists clenched tightly.

"They live in different worlds."

'Because this is the battle of those who had to live through that era.'

She understood why Leo had left those words.

She knew their experiences were different.

It couldn't be helped.

'They lived in different eras. The battlefields they experienced and the number of times they had to risk their lives are different.'

There are plenty of strong people in this world.

But a battlefield is a place where endless variables exist.

In a sense, it's like a constantly changing organism that endlessly devours people's lives.

Being strong doesn't guarantee survival on the battlefield.

Conversely, being weak doesn't mean you're destined to die on the battlefield.

But those who have transcended the battlefield are strong.

'This is an absolute, unchanging truth.'

That's why Chen Xia thought she could someday approach Leo's side.

He just seemed to be ahead, at an impossibly distant reach.

But…

'That's a wall.'

Chen Xia bit her lip.

One couldn't reach it just by experiencing battlefields and risking their life.

She realized that only by overcoming that wall could she truly approach him.

Chen Xia and Eiran had seen Leo wield a sword many times before.

Each time, they admired Leo's skill.

Even though it looked like he was simply swinging a sword, tremendous cunning was hidden within.

But seeing Leo's sword today, she realized that wasn't the end of it.

'It's because his opponent is Lord Berkhia.'

It's different from the sparring session with Arion.

Back then, both Leo and Arion weren't aiming for each other's lives.

But now, it's different.

Leo's true intentions are embedded in his sword.

Swords wielded by those who had to live through that era, to take each other's lives.

'That's not about variables and irregularities… that concept doesn't apply.'

Didn't Arion say he saw the future through super-senses during combat?

To Eiran and Chen Xia, Leo seemed to be doing the same.

Through variables and irregularities, he makes his opponent act as he wishes.

Literally, in a fleeting moment, it's no different from knowing what's ahead.

The difference from Arion is that while Arion's foresight was a natural ability brought to bloom through extreme training.

Leo's is merely a forced imitation of something he doesn't possess.

'I understand why Young Master Leo said he could never defeat Lord Arion.'

If it were Arion, he would just need to see the future through super-senses and avoid it.

In front of Arion's original foresight, Leo's ability would be powerless.

But what does that matter?

Eiran and Chen Xia were even more thrilled by Leo's ability, which approached natural talent through sheer effort alone.

And another person.

Berkhia, too, was stepping into the same domain as Leo.

"But is that even possible?"

"…Common sense was already abandoned long ago."

"What do you mean?"

To Lunia's question, Chen Xia said.

"Currently, Lord Berkhia's ego has collapsed."

"I know."

"That means only the instincts of a revenant remain."

"Right. He's in a berserk state, isn't he?"

"Yes, exactly. But even in that berserk state, he's not just attacking haphazardly; he's fighting with swordsmanship comparable to Young Master Leo's, isn't he?"

That was true.

A berserk revenant madly destroys its surroundings.

If it were a mage, they would lay waste to the area with magic blasts that barely resembled magic.

A hero of Berkhia's caliber could, by himself, erase several nations from a map.

Yet Berkhia was currently using sophisticated swordsmanship, as if he possessed will.

He was even fighting Leo on equal terms.

Lunia had never seen this before.

Until now, Leo had defeated those with stronger mana than himself through 'skill and experience'.

But Berkhia, who had lost his reason, was displaying swordsmanship on par with Leo's.

This meant that Berkhia's instinctive fighting itself was of that kind.

"Is that… possible?"

"Since he's fighting like that, it must be possible."

Chen Xia clenched her fists tightly.

She couldn't grasp how much one would have to refine themselves to become like that.

It was a realm close to divine skill.

'I thought I had gotten a little closer.'

She almost found herself laughable for having thought that.

But…

'I won't give up.'

Chen Xia stared at Leo's back, her eyes wide.

It wasn't just Chen Xia.

Lunia and Eiran also watched the battle of the two heroes who had lived through the era of calamity.

Dreaming of the day they could support that steadfast and lonely back.

"What's the current situation?"

"…If Lord Berkhia weren't an undead, Leo would have gained more from that exchange. But the current Lord Berkhia is…"

"Ugh…!"

Lunia bit her lip tightly.

"Is there nothing we can do to help?"

"For now…"

It was then that Eiran wore a frustrated expression.

"It seems… an intruder has appeared."

"What?"

At Chen Xia's words, Lunia and Eiran's eyes widened.

And they looked in the direction Chen Xia was gazing.

It was the sky.

Heavily armed knights and mages were descending from the sky.

Lunia's face twisted upon seeing them.

"Elden's Templars."

Having seen the darkness of this city from beneath Elden, Lunia detested them.

It wasn't just Lunia.

Disgust naturally surfaced on Eiran and Chen Xia's faces too.

It was when Chen Xia was looking at the sky with chilling eyes.

Hum-!

Once again, the Bihare's dagger in her bosom resonated.

Chen Xia gripped the dagger with a slightly flustered face.

At that moment.

-Master… Berkhia…

Chen Xia's face was stained with bewilderment at the voice transmitted through the sword.

'This voice, could it be…'

"Ancestor?"

-Don't call me ancestor.

The voice replied heavily.

-Because I am not worthy of it.

***

Leo tightened his grip on the sword-wielding fist.

An immense pain was assaulting him.

'My bone is definitely crushed.'

Leo looked down at his sword-holding hand, then at his other arm.

He felt pain no less than that in the back of his left hand.

His right arm dangled like a broken branch.

'This one's definitely broken too.'

Leo raised his aura.

Crack! Crunch! Snap-!

Muscles strengthened by aura forcibly held the broken bones together.

Healing magic wasn't his specialty, but given some time, he could mend bones to a certain extent.

But Leo didn't do that.

In the fleeting moment he used magic, Berkhia would attack.

And the unfamiliar sensation during the bone-mending process would interfere with his fighting.

Of course, forcibly fixing bones with aura like this also caused immense pain.

But for Leo, pain wasn't a distraction from mental focus.

Rather, it was very familiar.

The path Leo had walked was too arduous for his movements to be hindered by pain.

Instead, injury was like a friend.

A laugh escaped him amidst all this.

Not because pain was welcome.

This sharp battle, allowing no moment of respite, made Leo's heart pound.

"You've become incredible."

It was a sentiment unfitting for the present situation.

But he was happy to see a disciple who had grown so strong.

'If others saw me, they'd think I was utterly insane.'

But it didn't matter.

Had he not been insane to begin with, he wouldn't have been able to overcome that era.

"I wanted to stand on the same battlefield as you, Berkhia, now that you've grown strong."

He conveyed words that couldn't reach him now.

"I also wanted to stand on the same battlefield as Bihare, not as a shadow, but as a hero."

Conveying a wish that could no longer be fulfilled, Leo aimed his sword.

"This won't be the end, will it?"

Gooooooooo-!

As if responding to Leo's words, aura and magic began to pour out from Berkhia's body, whose severed wrist had reattached.

Seeing this, Leo said.

"I'll take everything you've got."

Just as Leo was about to unleash his magic.

"Oh dear, oh dear."

A sigh-laced voice was heard.

"That a great figure of the noble elves has become a dirty undead."

Leo turned his head.

There, an elven youth dressed as a scholar was walking towards them.

"What a tragic event."

The elf, Ulein, with a bitter expression, spoke to Leo without even glancing at Berkhia.

"I wanted to meet you, Leo Flobe. My name is Ulein. I am the Speaker of this city's council…"

Clang-!

In an instant, Leo's sword flew towards Ulein's head.

Leo's sword, piercing through the barrier, stopped right in front of Ulein's nose.

Leo, who had thrown the sword, spoke with an expressionless face.

"Tell me, who did you say was dirty?"

Ulein pointed at Berkhia with an awkward smile.

"I said *this person* was dirty."

A chilling killing intent settled in Leo's eyes.