What Have You Been Doing All This Time?
When Leon first encountered Talkan in the Siruntel Demonic Realm, he had felt utterly powerless.
He had felt the overwhelming gulf in strength. He had felt like a rabbit standing before a tiger. That was the presence of a high-ranking demon—a race superior to humans from birth, with power that made even warriors who had shattered the Expert wall look like a joke.
Leon had improved since then, but even so, he had no confidence he could win if he met Talkan again. Not even if he resorted to the forbidden technique of the Jecheon Sword Style.
And yet those high-ranking demons—even demons who had mastered martial arts and radiated killing intent—were being literally torn apart.
"Kyahahahaha! Pathetic! Absolutely pathetic!"
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
The gruesome massacre unfolding beyond the rift looked like a slasher film playing on a giant screen. A mad devil with a greatsword was running wild. Each of his sword strikes was so simple and concise it almost looked playful—like a child swinging a stick up and down.
Yet the demons couldn't withstand even a single exchange. Their bodies split, tore, and burst apart. They couldn't dodge. They couldn't block.
"……"
"……"
"……"
Leon, Aria, Hera, Belger—all of them stared blankly at this absurd scene.
The horde of demons was annihilated in less than a minute.
"Tch. Already over?"
Bergopf smacked his lips and slung his greatsword over his shoulder. Then he sauntered over toward the rift.
"What the hell are these things?"
He pressed his face against the veil of the Demonic Realm Gate, peering through it like someone looking through a tinted window. Then his gaze locked precisely onto Leon's face.
"…You. What are you doing over there?"
"…As you can see."
Leon answered Bergopf—who was acting like they knew each other—with a sour expression.
The young master of the Crusif family exchanging friendly greetings with a devil? He was genuinely grateful that the civilians had been evacuated in advance so there were no witnesses. Aria was fine, of course. Belger could just be killed. Hera… he'd figure that out later.
"Bergopf! Why are you suddenly here?! No—what the hell is your relationship with that human…?! What is going on…!"
Belger was having a meltdown, spitting out incoherent questions one after another. His plans kept falling apart, and it seemed to have dealt a severe blow to his mental state.
Leon picked up the thread.
"Right, what brings you here? Well, we did get some help thanks to you."
Bergopf drove his greatsword into the ground, then crossed his arms. And declared boldly:
"I just happened to be passing by."
"……"
"I saw a bunch of Patsira's rat bastards gathering, so I came to check it out—and here I am."
"……"
Leon had plenty to say, but he swallowed it. Bergopf had helped them, after all.
Leon glanced at Hera and said:
"Sis, I don't think we need to run. Let's just take these guys down and finish this."
"Hmm~ Sure. I like that a lot."
"……"
Leon flinched. Those eyes that had been so darkly sunken just moments ago were now sparkling as if stars had been stuck onto them.
…Later. I'll deal with that later.
Leon muttered to himself and deliberately looked away from that gaze.
"Go on and fight. Let me see if you've improved from that garbage you used to be."
Bergopf talked like he was some kind of mentor, standing arms crossed beyond the rift as if ready to spectate.
—If you're still that pathetic the next time I see you, you'd better be ready.
Apparently the threat he'd made last time hadn't been empty words.
"This is…"
Belger's expression went ice-cold. The situation had completely reversed—he was now surrounded on all sides. There was nowhere left for him to get support or help. His only way out was to kill every last one of the bastards in front of him. He had to capture Leon to complete his mission anyway.
He didn't need to worry about Bergopf. Even demons couldn't cross over—there was no way a devil like him could pass through the gate.
He steeled himself for a fight to the death.
"Little brother, then I'll just finish what I was doing earlier~!"
Hera called out cheerfully and charged at Belger. Despite her tone, the killing intent she radiated was viciously fierce.
"Then I guess we just take care of the dogs?"
That left Leon and Aria with roughly fifty trained Tarions. Not opponents to take lightly. This was an open plaza, and those things looked skilled at organized hunting. Getting surrounded by pack-hunting predators in open ground was the worst-case scenario.
Still, he didn't think they would lose.
Bang—!
Leon kicked off the ground.
Aria struck first.
Blue lightning stretched out low around Leon as he charged forward, spreading across the ground.
CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE—!
The first and second ranks of Tarions leading the pack were fried by electricity. It wasn't powerful enough to kill them outright—just enough to briefly lock up their bodies. But that was enough. The sudden halt of the front ranks threw their formation into disarray.
Leon rained sword strikes down upon them.
Jecheon Sword Style — Form Two
Manunbicheon
In an instant, the world was dyed blue. It was the soaring of azure clouds that blanketed every dark cloud in the sky. The gloomy dawn seemed to turn into broad daylight.
Leon had expected this to take out half their numbers, but they were more agile than anticipated. Everyone except the locked-up front ranks scattered with disciplined movements, as if they'd trained specifically for this situation.
SLASH-SLASH-SLASH-SLASH!
In the end, only those whose movements had been sealed spilled blood. Even then, some survived. Tarions had tenacious vitality—you had to sever both heads to kill them completely.
The ones that had fanned out to either side charged straight at Leon from left and right. Leon completely ignored the left side, bracing only for the collision from the right.
WHOOSH!
As if answering that judgment, a wide barrier rose on Leon's left, completely blocking the path of the left-side Tarion pack. They either smashed their heads into the suddenly risen wall or snarled and veered sideways.
In that interval, Leon met the right-side pack and cut down three Tarions. With two heads each, that meant six things to cut. Two of them had their entire upper bodies erased—one with a horizontal slash, the other with a diagonal cut. The last one he kicked in the chest to launch into the air, then sliced through the exposed necks. There were iron chains around the necks, but they meant nothing against sword aura.
Having done that much, he stepped into the Heavenly Spirit Steps and withdrew. Staying put would mean getting completely surrounded.
Aria's lightning spread across the ground once more. Without using a sword form, Leon charged in directly and took five necks. Then, as he pulled back, he threw four daggers and took down two more.
Apparently finding that mage particularly irritating, five Tarions broke off and charged at Aria.
That was a miscalculation.
BAM! BAM! CRUNCH! CRACK! BAM!
Her mana-infused fists and feet mercilessly exploded their heads. Even while throwing punches and kicks, barriers unfolded with exquisite timing and lightning orbs detonated in between. Magic and hand-to-hand combat blended as smoothly as flowing water. Even with evasion, defense, and counterattacks happening simultaneously, there wasn't the slightest awkwardness in her movements.
That was why skilled combat mages were rare—and so threatening.
Leon repeated his hit-and-run tactics, taking six more. At this point, he judged that their numbers had been reduced enough. He stopped countering and instead charged ahead, beginning to hammer in consecutive strikes.
Blue trajectories poured down relentlessly like falling rain.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Black blood sprayed upward, and the plaza's stone tiles shattered like glass. Leon imbued his sword strikes with the principles of Speed and Power. Then the rate at which they died far outpaced the rate at which they charged. Upper bodies were chopped off in chunks by powerful strikes carrying just the right amount of force.
Leon kept pushing forward with annihilation as his goal. Aria stopped supporting from afar with magic and ran up beside him, swinging fists and kicks. The two moved as one breath. Without speaking, each knew the other's next move perfectly. It was as if Leon's dantian and Aria's core were connected.
The trained Tarions didn't flee in fear. Even knowing they were moths to a flame, they threw themselves in until the end. Which only made things easier for Leon and Aria. Cleaning them up was just a matter of time.
Slash!
Leon bisecting the last one marked the end of the battle.
A pile of corpses had formed in the plaza. Blood, iron chains, and shattered flesh and bone were strewn everywhere. The heat rising from the area was enough to make the whole place feel warm.
From afar came the explosive sounds of Hera enthusiastically beating Belger to a pulp, punctuated by her sadistic laughter.
A thought suddenly occurred to Leon, and he picked up his communicator.
"Any of you still alive?"
"We've almost finished cleaning up over here!"
Riel answered first.
"…Same for the 4th Division!"
It was Fenril's 4th Division, but for some reason, the voice that answered wasn't Fenril's. Leon scratched his cheek.
"Is Fenril dead?"
"…No, the captain's not in his right mind right now, so I'm answering for him."
"What? Comms are working again?! Help the 5th Division! We're about to die over here!"
Prisha of the 5th Division was frantic. Leon sorted things out.
"3rd and 4th Divisions, go help the 5th. Don't even think about coming near the central plaza. You come here, you die. Guaranteed."
That was the absolute truth. If anyone overheard him talking with Bergopf, he'd have to personally silence them for good.
"……"
Bergopf was staring at Leon, brow furrowed. Leon stared right back without flinching, pulling out a cigarette and sticking it between his lips for good measure.
Bergopf's thick lips parted.
"You. What the hell have you been doing all this time?"