Dimensional Descent

Leonel looked down at Talon and then smiled.

“You’ve lost weight,” he said with a chuckle.

Talon’s gaze flashed with red.

He truly had. He had been a burly man, proud of iron belly and rippling muscles. But right now, he looked like a skeleton painted in loose skin. Chains flashed in and out of existence on him, and his own blood pooled down his body every time he tried to pull on more and more of his true strength.

He had been in the Incomplete World for too short a time and his comprehension couldn’t compare to Leonel’s, on top of the fact his Demi-God constitution and Dimensional level were above the latter’s as well.

Even so, despite the smile on his face, Leonel still felt like he was staring into the maw of a giant.

This would be his first battle with a true Demi-God, and he could already feel the pressure.

Red tattoos flashed over Talon’s body, and his hammers flashed with lightning.

One hammer was long and had a head as large as his body. It seemed to have grown in size once again. Wild arcs of lightning bolted around it.

The second was smaller and was the very one he used to Craft.

Standing there, despite the weakness of his body, he truly seemed to be the reincarnation of a war god risen from the dead.

His red runes flashed again, and he vanished.

Leonel’s gaze narrowed. ‘Fast.’

He side stepped, not reacting to Talon’s burst of action, but rather its precursors. If he waited for Talon to move first, he would be too slow.

He could feel the aura of a Tier 4 from Talon, the radiant suppression of a Seventh Dimension existence blooming forth.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Leonel met fierceness with skill, his wrists trembling after every attack, but the smile slowly fading from his eyes as his mind began to churn.

He parried one hammer and closed the distance. Taking advantage of the range, he flashed a palm toward Talon’s chest.

Unfortunately, Talon had one weapon with an exceptionally long pole arm, and another with a short.

He viciously swung his hammer at Leonel’s arm, imagining the scene of it erupting into shards of bone and flesh.

Leonel hardly reacted to this at all. His arm flashed with Light Force and Talon swung through empty air.

The Barbarian genius’ expression flickered. But in a swift motion, he used the momentum of his swing hammer to likewise pivot to the side, sidestepping Leonel’s palm.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The echoed of battle shook the skies, but what was shocking to those that could barely follow was that neither seemed to be able to hit the other, and when they did clash, it was purely weapon on weapon.

One’s analytical abilities were on a different tier entirely.

The other seemed to be able to peer into the future, reading and reacting before it even happened.

It was clear to Leonel at that point that his skill might be far above Talon’s, but it was more by design than coincidence or a lack of talent.

Talon didn’t have to put a great amount of skill into his attacks because he could rely on his race’s clairvoyance to bolster it.

He was the ultimate warrior, with wild strength and a fearless bearing.

At the same time, his Lineage Factor was able to make his body read and react as though he could see tens of steps ahead.

If not for the suppression of the Regulator, this would certainly be several fold more exaggerated.

Facing this clairvoyance, though… Leonel was incredibly calm.

That was because he felt that his Control Ability Index could counter it.

One was by instinct, and the other was by deduction.

And if he memorized the runes that covered the Barbarian Race and incorporated it into a Natural Force Art…

And then used his Dream Force Sovereignty…

Leonel took a step forward, and a crown bloomed above his head as robes danced into being on his body, fluttering in the wind.

“I said this once before…” Leonel said lightly.

Auspicious Air filled the skies and an incomplete Natural Force Art bloomed with every step Leonel took.

The battlefield seemed to flip. For every ten strikes of Leonel’s that hit air or were blocked by Talon, one slipped through, nicking across his skin and lacerating his flesh.

“… in a battle of Crafting, you stand no chance at all…”

Leonel’s voice echoed once more.

His spear flashed, leaving shadows in the air that blotted out the skies. His blade seemed to be everywhere, a single strike seemingly capable of appearing in three places at once and piercing flesh just as many times.

It was truly beautiful, especially as flashes of lightning dispersed and sparkled in sparks of gold and yellow.

“… you didn’t believe me, and were crushed nonetheless…”

Talon felt his blood boiling, but there was nothing he could do. He felt like history was repeating itself.

Leonel was improving so quickly in battle that it didn’t make any sense, and seeing the beauty of his spear’s dance, Talon couldn’t help but wonder if the path of the Barbarian Race was truly wrong.

“… But I want to apologize to you…”

Leonel’s spear spun in his hands, slamming down.

BANG!

Talon’s hammer slammed into the ground and nearly cracked the Ancient Battlefield in half.

Fragments spreading for hundreds of kilometers and the Barbarian fell to a knee.

“… I told you that if it was a battle, you might actually stand a chance…”

Leonel’s spear flickered once more and one of Talon’s arm flew into the air along with his other hammer.

Blood sparkled a translucent ruby color as it arched amidst the dreary darkness of the Ancient Battlefield.

Leonel had to admit that it was the most beautiful blood he had ever seen.

“… But I lied. It seems you never stood a chance in either.”

Leonel’s spear pierced through Talon’s chest, pinning him to the ground.

A rumbling echoed through his body as his foggy silver gold robes fluttered.