Nothing Special

The moment Scathach crossed blades with Leon, she sensed how troublesome he was.

Leon's martial arts style and techniques were very similar to the purple-clad knight from before, and Scathach quickly grasped the fundamentals of his repertoire.

Leon's movements were wide and sweeping, the style of a soldier fighting for his life on the battlefield, though he used some clever tricks to mask his openings against experts; yet, before Scathach, these were as good as non-existent.

As for her, she was flawless. She was proficient in both grueling battlefield warfare and refined dueling, her spear mastery having long since reached the realm of perfection, capable of slaying gods with a mere flip of her palm.

But Leon's strength was simply too immense!

Even though she could see through Leon's weaknesses, she could only carefully use finesse to overcome his brute force while under his assault.

The battle against Leon consumed an extraordinary amount of energy; after only half a day of fighting, she was already panting, and to continue would surely lead to defeat.

Truly a piece of unpolished jade.

Scathach's penchant for teaching surfaced, leaving her genuinely impressed by Leon's aptitude.

Her purpose today was to test whether the Lion King of Britain was as valiant as the rumors suggested, and having seen it with her own eyes, she knew the rumors were true.

He was a rare talent possessing the same genius as Setanta, worthy of her tutelage.

"Then, are you the one who can kill me, Lion?"

No.

Scathach denied it in her heart.

If asked why, she could tell that Leon did not use magecraft; having fought for so long, he had only been using physical strength to execute his moves, and this alone put him at a disadvantage.

To kill her, one required martial arts, Rune, courage, and wisdom—none could be lacking.

Because that was the kind of existence she was.

Compared to Scathach's inner conflict, Leon felt nothing but exhilaration.

Combat, truly, was a delight for both body and mind.

"Are you so eager to die?"

Leon heard Scathach's whisper. Although he had long known that her mind was not quite right and that she was obsessed with seeking death, he had not expected her to say it to him one day.

He really could not understand the thought processes of the natives of the Moon World.

However, seeing her accompany him to vent the emotions he had been harboring for some time, Leon decided to grant her defeat.

Leon leaped backward, and from a distance, he swung his sword down toward Scathach.

To Scathach's surprise, a white streak was unleashed by Leon. The sword energy erupting from the blade slashed toward her location; it was hard to discern from afar, but as it drew near, she saw that this flying slash was fierce, almost obscuring the world in her eyes.

What surprised Scathach most was that she could not sense a shred of magical energy in it; it was purely a force of kinetic energy from the slash.

He can unleash this with just his physique?

Though startled, she felt the intensity of the incoming slash and realized it lacked the power of Leon's close-quarters strikes, likely a technique that sacrificed force for range.

It might work on an ordinary person, but it was not enough to deal with her.

Scathach gripped her spear shaft, her muscles tensing and exploding as she hurled the long spear in her hand like a javelin.

Like a crimson ray of light, it collided head-on, shattering the slash into pieces.

Scathach's expression was grave; behind the shattered white streak was not Leon, but a Holy Sword thrown through the air, its tip pointed directly at her body.

Another decoy.

Scathach had anticipated this and sidestepped the two-meter-long greatsword, only to hear a whistling wind from the side. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she saw Leon's figure, larger than a house, charging over like a speeding chariot.

It was a desperate resolve, as if he were determined to crash and perish together.

Seeing this, Scathach neither dodged nor retreated. The magical energy in her spear surged, and a monstrous killing intent raged as she sought to defeat Leon head-on.

Gae Bolg!

The target: Leon's heart.

Leon was utterly fearless. The so-called "inevitable strike" was merely a matter of causality; the effect of being pierced existed before the cause of Scathach thrusting the spear. Such petty tricks of reversing cause and effect were useless against Leon.

He had nine ways to break it. Nine.

Seeing Scathach employ skills beyond mere martial arts, Leon did not intend to keep playing with her.

And his simplest method of response was to take it head-on.

Leon extended his left hand to block his chest, the silver chains on his wrist flickering with a faint light. The "sure-hit" spear was blocked by him with such ease, his large hand gripping the spearhead as if it were a willow branch.

Scathach, holding the spear, felt her pupils constrict. Before she could react, a massive force surged from the shaft, causing it to twist and roll. Her hands were rubbed raw and red, and unable to contest that strength, she was forced to let go.

The other long spear she had thrown earlier was flying back at that moment. Just as Scathach reached out to catch it, Leon, relying on his massive frame, lunged forward with the spear he held, blocking the path to her chest.

Clang!

Sparks flew, and a crisp clashing sound rang out. The spear in the air was knocked away, and Scathach's hand swiped at empty air, catching nothing.

Then came another whistling sound as the spear in Leon's hand swept across, slamming directly into Scathach's chest.

"Ugh."

Scathach spat blood as she was sent flying by the strike, her body slamming into the barrier Merlin had cast. The transparent barrier rippled in concentric circles, like a stone dropped into a calm pond.

Splat!

Scathach's limbs swayed listlessly in the wind, her body hitting the ground like a broken doll.

"Cough, cough!"

Her veil had flown off somewhere, and the blood she coughed up trickled down her jaw and neck, staining the renovated ground. Scathach felt her consciousness dimming, her vision swimming; she was on the verge of blacking out.

Biting her lip, Scathach forced herself to stay alert, struggling to command her body to mount a resistance, yet she could feel absolutely nothing below her chest.

There was no pain in her chest, only a numb, hollow sensation, alternating between cold and heat. Tilting her head to look, she saw that her chest cavity had caved in.

Scathach was familiar with this sensation; she didn't know how many ribs were broken, but her internal organs and even her spine had been shattered by that single blow.

My lower body is paralyzed...

Turning her face with great difficulty, she saw the towering figure of the Lion King drawing closer through her blurred vision.

Is this... your... true strength?

At this moment, Scathach couldn't even produce a sound, yet she still refused to give up.

It was merely lower-body paralysis; she had Rune, and with a little time, she could recover from such minor injuries quickly.

Leon approached, carrying his long spear, which looked like a thin rod in his hands. His lion-like face was hideous and terrifying, as if he were ready to devour his prey.

What did peerless martial arts matter? What did spear techniques that could kill gods with a flip of the palm matter? Under his power, they were nothing more than trifles.

Once he got serious, she couldn't even last a single exchange!

"Hmm?"

A flash of red light streaked across the horizon and vanished in an instant. Leon saw it clearly: it was the spear he had knocked away, its tip aimed directly at his back.

He couldn't help but admire Scathach's fighting spirit; after taking his direct hit, she still had the strength to attempt a sneak attack?

Unfortunately, her intent was far too obvious.

Is she so heavily injured that even her mind has become muddled?

Just as the spear was about to pierce him, Leon stepped aside, easily dodging the strike from behind.

With a flash of the silver chain on his wrist, Leon reached out and gripped the spear, forcibly suppressing the power it carried with sheer brute strength.

Pointing the spearhead downward, Leon drove it into the ground with force.

Thwack! Thwack!

Two consecutive sounds of flesh being pierced rang out. One spear was driven into Scathach's throat, and the other was pinned through her lower abdomen. Just like that, Scathach was nailed to the ground by her own two spears, unable to move.

How ironic.

"Merlin, come over here and get to work."