Leonel watched as Nigmir shot forward.
To everyone else, it looked as though it was effectively teleportation. Nigmir had almost instantly reached speeds of several hundred kilometers an hour. At such a speed, the mere hundred meters or so separating them might as well have been teleportation.
But, in Leonel's mind, this might as well have been a snail's crawl. This wasn't because Leonel was faster. In fact, Nigmir, in raw speed, was likely faster than him unless he used his Four Seasons Realm to fuel his Speed Branch Lineage Factor. Rather, it was because Leonel's mind simply processed things too quickly.
This combination of Style and the Four Seasons Realm fascinated Leonel. If Nigmir was right about anything, it was that he had indeed underestimated the so-called seniors of Valiant Heart. He definitely had to reevaluate how easily he would be able to defeat them.
If this combination was possible, it wouldn't be surprising if other combinations were likewise in existence. Leonel was too ignorant of the ways of the Dimensional Verse, who knew how many unique things he had missed on?
In fact, now that he thought about it, that weird chant Nigmir had used to solidify his Wind Force into armor and weapon… Leonel had never seen something like that before either.
Of course, it could just be Nigmir's ability, but it was fascinating nonetheless.
'I guess there is value in learning things from this place… Well, if they let me stay here after this, that is.'
Nigmir still had half the distance to travel when Leonel flipped his palm, causing a long, flexible spear to appear.
The spear itself seemed hollow, several deep etchings across its surface showcasing its empty insides. However, it was a truly beautiful sight to behold.
The spear was almost four meters long. Its blade was long, thin and sharp. Just a small flick of Leonel's wrist caused the spear to bed and sway, waving about like a rigid whip.
Nigmir crossed the 50 meter distance between them, blazed through the 40 and erupted past the 30. His speed only seemed to grow, the wind pressure from his movements alone blew against Leonel's body, seemingly ready to send him tumbling back and press him into the ground.
However, it was only after Nigmir reached the five meter distance between them, just a meter or two from thrusting his lance through Leonel's heart, that the latter finally reacted.
"Wind Domain."
Leonel's body flickered.
Nigmir's gaze sharpened. All this time, Leonel had been using a space teleportation art. Though Nigmir had been surprised about this at first, after a while, he calmed realizing that Leonel could only move a single meter in any direction.
This made sense. After all, this was a Fifth Dimensional world. Space was far sturdier here. Nigmir concluded that Leonel likely had a treasure on him of some sort that had lost most of its effectiveness after entering a higher-level world. This was a common matter.
With this conclusion, he realized that there was no way Leonel was faster than he was, so he confidently shot forward, ready to end this battle in a single sweep.
But at that moment, Leonel displayed speed no slower than his own… No, it was even faster!
Before Nigmir could react, he found a spear at his throat. For the first time, he didn't have the weapon length advantage in battle, making his eyes widen.
Still, he reacted quickly, his body shifting slightly. Just this slight movement required all the speed he could muster. It likely would have been impossible for anyone else, but he was able to time it perfectly.
'The spear should graze off my pauldrons. I can use this opportunity to attack.'
Nigmir was confident in the defense of his armor. Leonel had been right, this was indeed his ability and it synergized perfectly with his Lineage Factor. As for which was which and how they were related… That was something Nigmir would never tell.
However, what Nigmir didn't expect was for the blade of Leonel's spear to shear through his armor entirely, nicking his shoulder and shattering a part of his wind armor.
"What?!"
Nigmir reeled, countering with his lance as he had planned. However, somehow, despite having attacked already, Leonel was faster once again.
Leonel spear jetted out like a venomous viper. His two arms controlled its polearm with a deft accuracy and mind-numbing speed.
Nigmir began to panic and soon found himself continuously blocking. He didn't even realize that Leonel was no longer rising in the air with the help of a piece of earth.
Leonel's speed only grew faster and faster. Every exchange seemed to cause another piece of Nigmir's armor to chip and another slice of his Lance to be taken.
Leonel's indifferent gaze was grating on the soul. Nigmir couldn't understand what was happening, his mind simply couldn't wrap itself around the current events.
He wanted to retreat, but Leonel's pursuit was endless. Shallow cuts began appearing all over his body. It wasn't long before there was nothing left of his armor, yet Leonel's speed seemed to only be growing.
Nigmir's lance began to feel heavy as though it wanted to fly out of his hand and return to the skies.
It was only then that Nigmir realized what was happening. The wind… His hurricane paradise… It was no longer under his control.
Nigmir's gaze landed on Leonel's spear. But now, it was swirling with the very same green Force Nigmir had been relying on from the very beginning.
Leonel's wrists flicked, causing the spiraling tip of the lance to finally be cut off.
He turned his blade toward Nigmir, tearing a deep cut through the latter's chest.
His gaze flashed, the tip of his spear beginning to spiral just as Nigmir's had. This time, he wasn't sweeping across. He had every intention of skewering Nigmir through just as he had planned to do to him.
At that moment, the commotion of such a large scale battle could no longer be ignored.
"STOP!"