Dimensional Descent

Leonel's aura flourished, the cumulation of Force in the surroundings surging toward him in violent tides. It felt as though the entire world was in the palm of his hands, Forces of all kinds being stripped of their character and uniqueness to fuel the strength of his Spear Force.

Amery's gaze narrowed once. Three hundred attacks? Wasn't that just child's play? He took a step forward, his sword light descending before it seemed that he had moved at all. It felt like his sword had a mind of its own, almost as though it wasn't just an extension of his arm, but its own living, breathing existence.

The rippling of the stars above reacted to Amery's movements, descending toward Leonel with a menacing light.

Leonel's gaze turned sharp, an unprecedented seriousness taking hold of him. At that moment, his gaze lost its fierceness entirely, being replaced by a gaze that seemed to see through the world. It was indifferent to its very depths and vast by its very nature. Looking into his eyes, it felt less like one was gazing upon a youth, and more like they were observing a being that was larger than life, an existence that was larger than even the world he claimed to exist within.

His spear moved to meet Amery's attacks. It seemed to lose its splendor, returning to an absolute simplicity. It felt like the turning pages of a book, a casual sip of water, even as rudimentary as a careless breath of air. It was the kind of movement that carried an endless ease, and yet the fundamental importance was beyond imagining, as though it was part of a bigger picture that couldn't be pinned down with any immediacy.

Leonel took a step back, and then another. A line of blood appeared across his shoulder, then by his cheek. In the next instant blood sprayed from his neck in a fierce rain, but the cold indifference in his eyes was just as placid as it had been from the very beginning.

There was no doubt that the gap between himself and Amery had suddenly exploded, it was so enormous in fact that retreating was all that he could seem to do. Whether it was himself or the clone in the skies, they moved as one, taking steps back at the same moment.

Leonel's stance shifted and his spear pierced forward. He seemed to have sensed a change in Amery's thought process before even the man in question had decided upon it. He disrupted the attack entirely, but in return his collarbone was pierced through.

A flare of Scarlet Star Force suddenly shot out from the blade wound, rushing after Amery's Dark Force blade.

Amery hadn't been prepared for such an unconventional attack, but he reacted as quickly as one might expect. The stars in the skies shifted and his Dark Force blade solidified once again. His wrist turned and he twisted through the surging flames.

He could feel the overwhelming power of destruction bearing down on him, but his Gaia Force reacted soon after, stopping the destruction with large amounts of Life Force before it could interfere with his body.

At this moment, the weakness of having chosen to focus on Sword Universal Force alone was showing. While his sword techniques were exceptionally powerful, and he had even broken through to the Cosmos Realm so quickly after entering the Seventh Dimension, this advancement was only useful in his sword techniques.

However... This was still more than he felt Leonel should be able to handle.

Amery shrugged off the attack, his movements becoming fluid once again, or more accurately, they had never lost their fluidity.

At this moment, the battle between Leonel and Amery had begun to cause far less destruction than it had in the past. Whereas before the grounds collapsed and the clouds above were stirred, the current moment it was as though the entire world had had a dampener placed upon it.

Sounds weren't as loud, clashes weren't as resounding, even the crossing of their weapons made it seem as though they were a pair of Third Dimensional existence attacking one another fiercely instead of the geniuses they truly were.

But as time passed, the devastation of such a battle became more and more apparent. Clouds of blood continuously erupted from Leonel's body, his lips leaking and his limbs threatening to hang limply by his side.

Amery seemed to become more accustomed to his new strength with every swing of the blade. He was all too aware of the complex Force Art forming beneath the feet of both himself and Leonel, and the count of the number of spear strikes, while continuously increasing in his mind, still didn't make him panic in the slightest.

The confidence he had in his swords was unlike anything else. Even if Leonel managed to last 333 exchanges, so what?

He would sever this attack with his blade just like he had everything else.

Leonel's stance suddenly shifted. His stiff and direct movements gained a sudden grace to them.

His spear swept through the air, leaving an alluring draw of sparking, silvery fog. The incomplete Force Art beneath him pulsed and then pulsed again.

His attacks became fiercer, but the number of lines of blood appearing across his body increased. The cracks in his armor began to accumulate and it threatened to lose its function entirely.

However, at that moment, one of Leonel's tails trembled.

His Lotus Domain took shape and the world suddenly became a blinding ball of golden light. For as far as the eye could see, not a single drop of Dark Force could be sensed.

One of Amery's swords lost their most powerful reliance. His Dark Force seemed to be stripped from him, only capable of circulating within his body, but completely unable to make an appearance into the real world.

The only oddity in the world were two Force Arts of shimmering violet light.

"Shadowless." Leonel's deep voice echoed once again.