The words stunned Anared. However, before he could even think of reacting, Leonel had shot forward, his spear ringing.
The Puppet Master felt as though its dignity was being tarnished. Or, rather, it had enough understanding of human nature to understand that this was how it should be feeling. But , whether it experienced emotion in this way or not was another matter entirely.
What it did feel, though, was that Leonel was wholly irrational. Even if its ability was set aside, just its strength of Force alone was enough to squash Leonel into a meat paste. The difference between them was impossibly vast.
Though it was surprised that Leonel had survived its initial strike, it was only that. That hit, even if it was being generous, was only casual. Plus, it had to make sure not to use too much strength to not end up killing Aina as well.
At this point, all the Puppet Master wanted to do was end things as quickly as possible. It had no intention of allowing this to continue. It could already sense that the tide of the battlefield was changing.
The headpiece the Puppet Master had stolen from Aina suddenly began to glow, strong waves of mental strength gathering.
The feeling was intoxicating, as though the whole world was at its fingertips. The Puppet Master couldn't help but close its eyes.
When Anared gathered himself, and saw Leonel's actions, he couldn't help but be baffled.
'Fool.'
Leonel appeared just two meters from the Puppet Master, his spear shooting forward like an obsidian flood dragon. Its tip quivered ever so slightly, overloaded by Leonel's strength.
At that moment, the Puppet Master's eyes snapped open, the brunt of its mental prowess bearing down on Leonel.
"It's over." Heira said plainly.
Even from here, she could feel the fearsomeness of the Variant Invalid. To have an ability that could cover an entire world was the marker of a deity amongst men. To try and face such an ability without any protection to speak of was the epitome of foolishness.
The Puppet Master's gaze locked onto Leonel. It didn't even try to dodge the spear. In its mind, the spear would come to a stop at its own volition soon enough.
Since Leonel had such a sturdy body, it didn't mind taking him in as a puppet. Leonel would definitely be useful in this regard.
The priority now, though, was to regain control of the Eartherners. It had already exposed itself once, it couldn't allow such information to leak out.
If word that Terrain was working with an Invalid was released, the powerhouses of other worlds would finally have an excuse to act and this would no longer be a simple matter to deal with. The only good news was that Variant Invalids were so rare that not many could claim to have been in the presence of one. Without time to properly inspect it, the Puppet Master probably looked no different from a human powerhouse right now.
Still, the sooner it returned to its hiding spot, the better.
'This should be over now, righ--?'
BANG!
The Puppet Master suddenly felt its chest caving in. A blade pierced through it about three inches, only to be stopped by the strength of its bones. But, it felt as though it had been hit by a train, its body bending into the shape of a U as it was sent flying backward.
The Puppet Master flew through the air in silence, its gaze flickering with astonishment.
What had just happened?
Anared and Heira went stiff, their eyes widening.
Leonel pounced after the Puppet Master, his face still the picture of rage.
His spear descended from the skies, sending the flying Puppet Master careening into the ground below.
The impact was so harsh that a tsunami of earth spread outward with it as the center, collapsing buildings and homes in every direction.
Leonel dove down again, the fire in his gaze only growing with each strike. Despite the fact the sturdiness of the Puppet Master's body was enough to cause despair in anyone else, Leonel didn't seem to notice.
His spear whipped about the skies, the force of his strikes so great that it bowed beneath the pressure, curving and snapping back to attention like bamboo.
The Puppet Master's body became like a small sail boat amidst a raging tide, facing up against Leonel's fury as though he couldn't muster up any resistance.
Every time Leonel cut into the Puppet Master's body, he would remember another line of Aina's story. He was almost thankful that the Puppet Master's body was so sturdy. He didn't want it to die so fast. He wanted it to feel every ounce of pain and despair she had. He wanted it to grasp at hope where there was none, to sit on the edge of despair knowing that the only path forward was death.
The Flames of the world seemed to react to Leonel's rage. His affinity was so high that it poured in of its own free will.
In that moment, even a Three Star Fire Magus didn't have a chance at casting a single spell. All the flaming rage of the world seemed to kneel before Leonel.
Leonel roared, his hair being lit in a fiery blaze. If it wasn't for his astounding control, even Aina would have been burnt to a crisp.
PCHU!
Leonel's raised spear suddenly came to a grinding halt.
Amid all the scorching heat around him, he suddenly felt an ice cold chill sink into his body, piercing through his nerves and latching onto his mind, refusing to let go.
The Puppet Master laid on the ground amidst a pile of rubble, barely inclined upward. In fact, even its head was nowhere to be scene, covered by several slabs of rock.
However, its hand had still shot upward, piercing through Leonel's stomach.
Blood dripped down the Puppet Master's hand and arm as it slowly pushed itself up, its face shoving the heavy slabs away.
Even after its face was exposed, it didn't stand up immediately, looking toward Leonel who still had his spear raised and then at its hand's place within the latter's body.
It pulled its hand out, a geyser of hot blood following its motion.
A tinge of red colored the Variant Invalids gaze as though it had only now finally woken up.
It stood. Standing on the rubble, its body towered over Leonel, a hint of excitement on its face as it sniffed at the blood coating its hand.
It raised its head to the sky, a manic laughter shaking the night sky.
Its foot shot up, kicking Leonel away.
As though a bolt out of a gun, Leonel's body shattered the sound barrier, shooting backward like a comet.
The Variant Invalids laughter continued to ring, its tongue running across its bloodied arm.
"MORE!"
He howled into the sky, shooting after Leonel.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared above the streaking Leonel, his foot blasting downward.
BOOM!
A massive crater formed, waves of earth and clouds of dust rolling in all directions.