Chapter 104
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Chapter 104
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Turning the Tables
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Kaang!!!
Leon’s treasured sword clashed against the sword conjured by Dorn.
Even though it collided with what was practically a Mielephon family heirloom, the sword coated in the power of the Halo held firm without breaking.
The advantage in the assault belonged to Dorn.
He relentlessly hounded Leon with overwhelming speed and power, and Leon didn’t launch a single counterattack, merely blocking his blade over and over.
Kaang!! Kang! Kang!!
"Your left side’s wide open."
Kwaaang!!
In the midst of their repeated clashes, Dorn’s Halo flashed once, unleashing a fiery explosion at Leon’s left flank.
It was a blindingly swift ambush, but Leon had already pulled back, utterly unscathed.
"Hmm... Is this about right?"
He tilted his head, lost in thought.
"Sharp instincts."
Dorn offered no reprieve, pressing the attack once more. He seized control again, unleashing a ceaseless barrage.
Every now and then, the shadowless undead—including Muyoung—tried to interfere, but the power radiating from him intensified, completely shutting down their approach.
In contrast, his power periodically locked Leon’s movements in place.
The instant an intangible force halted Leon’s motion, his eyes precisely tracked the blade streaking toward his vitals like a bolt of lightning.
"No send-off for you."
As he bid farewell to Leon, driving his sword toward the man’s heart—
"Ah. Yeah, I’ve got the gist now."
With that, Leon—who’d been frozen solid—shifted casually, hooking Dorn’s leg with effortless grace and toppling his balance.
"Ugh?!"
His blade tip grazed perilously close to Leon’s cheek before stabbing past.
At the same instant, an artifact shot up before their eyes with a sharp Pakang!
Flash artifact!!
Fooled once, not twice!
There’s a limit to stupidity!
As the furious Dorn reflexively moved to form hand seals and summon his power—
He realized too late that Leon had already seized his hand, rendering it useless.
No one would make the foolish choice to yank their arm free in a spot like this.
How, at this exact timing?
"What the—?!"
Paaaang!!!!
A deafening screech tore through his ears, his vision blanking out in an instant.
Even on a second look, the flash defied understanding.
No mere artifact could pack this punch. Its casing was unmistakably a standard-issue military-grade item.
But something about the innards felt off.
Kwaaang!!!
The follow-up shockwave slammed Dorn’s body into the floor.
"……."
No serious damage. Still, the nagging sense that his actions were being stifled left a foul taste.
Twice, no less.
Leon’s strikes weren’t particularly menacing.
His brute strength, razor-sharp aura blade, and black death magic were all rebuffed by the subtle emissions of Dorn’s Halo—no real harm done.
Yet Leon’s face betrayed no urgency whatsoever.
Was it that gaze, reminiscent of certain imperial bigwigs who’d looked down on him?
Dorn failed to notice how his own emotions were spiraling out of control.
"Damn it!!"
Kwaang!! Kwoong!!
Even as his attacks grew wilder, Leon hadn’t changed a bit.
Or rather—
"Now I’ve got it. Melissa, get that woman out of here. Unless you wanna die."
"Thanks. And don’t go too wild."
His demeanor shifted with those words.
Kaang!! Pak!!
Dorn’s speed-drenched sword strike was utterly parried for the first time.
In raw power or blade potency, Dorn held the clear edge.
So why had it been blocked?
"Let there be light."
Leon lobbed another flash artifact. Dorn flinched, erupting with immense power to shield himself.
"The same tired trick again!!"
Did he really think third time’s the charm after falling for it twice?
Leon’s unflappable attitude was starting to click.
He’d never viewed Dorn as a true threat from the outset.
There’s a line to looking down on people!
Bracing for the imminent blast, Dorn channeled a hefty chunk of his power into flash and boom defenses.
But—
It didn’t go off?!
The artifact Leon had thrown only hummed to life—no flash, no bang.
Not a flash artifact? Then what the hell was Leon—?!
"Returning the favor. Left side’s open."
Kwaaang!!!
"Kuhuk?!"
This was worlds apart.
His power advantage was overwhelming, but he’d overcommitted to the flash defense, leaving his guard thin.
The Halo’s might was formidable, but wielding it still required finesse. Wielding such vast energy recklessly could backfire even on him.
That fleeting psychological slip cost him dearly. Dorn retched up blood from the brutal hit, reeling back unsteadily.
"……."
He hurriedly redirected his power toward defense.
But a smirk tugged at Leon’s lips.
Pusssshhhhh!!!!
Smoke billowed from the artifact that had activated moments ago.
A smokescreen artifact? Hiding to buy time or ambush wouldn’t work.
So he reasoned, rapidly amplifying his senses. Smell, hearing, sight, touch.
Whatever Leon tried in that haze, it wouldn’t change a thing.
The choking fumes assaulted his senses.
"Cough?! Gah!!"
"Prince Dorn, sword in hand makes kids or adults equally deadly."
As he staggered from the baffling irritant—
Leon’s voice echoed incongruously from the fog.
Dorn couldn’t make sense of it.
"But put a civilian against a knight with blades, and nine times outta ten, the knight wins. You’d know why unless you’re a moron."
Kwaang!!
Leon’s fist crashed into his gut, a sickening crack resounding as his body lurched.
Defense... breached. How? He’d split his power between sensory boosts and protection.
Ah, it stemmed from me.
He was strong, sure—but his strength sprang from the Halo.
Not forged through sweat and toil.
Coughs wracked him, tears and snot streaming endlessly. The heightened senses amplified the agony beyond imagination, shattering his poise.
Losing composure meant fumbling control over the Halo’s power.
"Cough... cough cough. You calling me a civilian and yourself a knight? Bullshit..."
"It’s not just training gaps... it’s experience. And you’re hooked on borrowed might when you’re short on practice time..."
"Shut your mouth."
Dorn blasted away the mist with force, flailing his arms wildly as he stumbled back.
His eyes caught Leon, treasured sword planted firmly, icy azure gaze spilling through the slipped sunglasses.
"What good’s raw power? You borrow strength forbidden to humans, sprouting phantom organs. But with scant combat experience and utter reliance on it, gaps are glaring."
Leon’s words stabbed like a mentor berating a pupil, each one carving into his flaws.
Kwoong!! Kwoong!
From there, the fight turned brutally one-sided.
Leon’s strikes relentlessly carved into Dorn, while his own slashed empty air or met Leon’s guard.
Pure power should’ve crushed him.
"Uwaaa!!"
Enraged, he tried to unleash his power in all directions.
This critical space—reckless discharge risked derailing everything—but no room for caution.
"Not on my watch."
Kwoong!!
Leon’s kick nailed his solar plexus dead-on, nipping the outburst in the bud.
"Cough... cough cough."
Overwhelming.
He’d started with a scoff.
Frankly, disappointing at best.
Figured a finger twitch would end it.
But now—
Leon looked utterly transformed. Full-throttle assaults whiffed; victory seemed impossible.
Even clashing head-on, Leon’s technical mastery crushed him—he desperately wanted to deny it.
One stab wasn’t just dodged or blocked; Leon’s counters exploited paths Dorn couldn’t evade or shield.
If only the speed were slower.
But it accelerated bit by bit, surpassing even his perception.
Fast. Brutal. Ruthlessly precise.
A human monster. Dorn’s assessment flipped entirely.
This shoved-in-your-face chasm in experience and skill was anything but pleasant.
No imperial knight captain he knew preempted with such ruthless certainty—before attacks even launched.
Miscalculated. This guy’s a massive threat.
Countless foes barred his path to victory.
Topping the list: the empire’s very emblem, Sword Saint Osberg Mielephon, and Mielephon house head Duke Katsi Mielephon.
Yet from this man emanated an alien something he’d never sensed from even them.
A chilling familiarity, like one who’d seen and known it all.
Under the eerie tension, Dorn retreated step by step, heaving ragged breaths as he roughly smeared blood from his lips.
The most baffling part of all.
"You... what the hell are you?"
"What?"
"How do you know the structure of this power derived from the Halo?"
It was the very principle driving every move Leon made.
His counters: razor-sharp, bone-crushing. Vast experience, arsenal of techniques.
An eerie veteran savvy no boy that age should possess.
Those could be chalked up to training or genius.
But Leon’s playbook defied that.
The nature of the power Dorn Lu Pascalia had gained from the Halo—its origins, structure, flow.
Only total mastery allowed such combat intuition.
All tactics dismantled; no fool could miss it.
Leon paused at Dorn’s question, as if mulling it over, then tossed an artifact at his feet.
Flash? Smokescreen? Sensory amp wouldn’t cut it. Possible flash meant defending sight and sound too.
Best bet: fortify defenses.
Wrap himself in the strongest barrier to weather Leon’s strike.
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