Nothing Special

The moment Scathach crossed swords with Leon, she could tell he would be a difficult opponent.

Leon's techniques and fighting style were much like those of the Purple Knight. Scathach quickly got a feel for him.

Leon's movements were broad and forceful, the sort meant for desperate life-or-death combat on a battlefield. He also used some finesse to cover the openings that might be exploited by a master. But against Scathach, it was all useless.

As for her, she had no weaknesses. She was skilled in both prolonged battlefield clashes and clever duels, and her spearwork had long since reached the pinnacle. Slaying a god was as easy as turning over her hand.

But Leon was just too strong!

Even though she could see his weaknesses, under his attacks she had no choice but to carefully use skill to overcome strength.

Fighting Leon took an extraordinary amount of energy. They had only been at it for half a day, yet she was already breathing hard. If they kept going, she would undoubtedly lose.

"He really is a rough diamond."

Scathach's love of teaching came to the fore, and she couldn't help but sincerely praise Leon's talent.

The reason she had come today was to see whether the Lion King of Britain was as mighty as the rumors claimed. Now that she had seen him with her own eyes, she knew the rumors were true.

He was a rare talent, gifted like Setanta, and worthy of her instruction.

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

No.

Scathach denied it in her heart.

The reason was simple: she could tell that Leon couldn't use Magecraft. Even after fighting for so long, he had relied only on physical strength to perform his techniques. That alone put him at a disadvantage.

To kill her, one needed martial skill, Runes, courage, and wisdom. Not one could be lacking.

Because that was the sort of being she was.

Unlike Scathach, who was caught up in her own thoughts, Leon felt nothing but exhilaration.

Fighting really did make one feel good, body and soul.

"Are you that eager to die?"

Leon had heard Scathach's murmur. He had known she was out of her mind and wanted to die, but he hadn't expected her to say it to him one day.

He really couldn't understand how the natives of the Moon World thought.

But after she had helped him vent his feelings for a while, Leon decided to grant her defeat.

Leon leaped backward and swung his sword at Scathach from far away.

To Scathach's surprise, a streak of white shot from Leon's blade. The sword energy burst forth and raced toward her. From a distance, it was hard to make out, but as it drew closer, she saw the flying slash was so fierce it nearly filled her entire field of vision.

What surprised Scathach most was that she couldn't sense even a trace of Magecraft in it. It was nothing but the force of a slash.

He can do that with physical strength alone?

Though startled, she could tell from the slash's force that it didn't pack the same power as Leon's close-range sword swings. He had likely sacrificed strength to extend the reach of his attack.

It might work against an ordinary opponent, but it was nowhere near enough to deal with her.

Scathach gripped her spear shaft, tensing her entire body until her muscles bulged. Then, like a javelin thrower, she hurled her spear.

It shot forward like a beam of crimson light, smashing the slash to pieces.

Scathach's expression turned grave. There was no sign of Leon behind the shattered streak of white. Instead, a Holy Sword came hurtling toward her, its point aimed straight at her body as it skimmed past the spear in midair.

Still a decoy.

Scathach had expected as much. She turned aside to dodge the two-meter-long greatsword, only to hear the wind howl from one side. From the corner of her eye, she saw Leon's massive form, larger than a house, charging toward her like a racing chariot.

He looked ready to smash through everything in his path.

Seeing this, Scathach neither dodged nor retreated. Magecraft surged through the spear in her hand, and murderous intent erupted around her. She would defeat Leon head-on.

Gae Bolg!

Target: Leon's heart.

Leon felt no fear. This so-called unavoidable strike was nothing more than causality. First came the effect—the spear striking its target—then Scathach's thrust followed as the cause. This little trick of inverted causality wouldn't work on him.

He had nine ways to counter it. Nine.

Seeing that Scathach had resorted to something beyond martial skill, Leon decided he was done playing along.

And the simplest way to deal with it was to take the attack head-on.

Leon raised his left hand in front of his chest. The silver chain around his wrist glimmered faintly, and he stopped the supposedly unavoidable strike with ease. His massive hand closed around the spearhead as casually as if he were holding a willow twig.

Scathach's pupils contracted. Before she could react, immense force traveled up the spear shaft. It spun in Leon's grip, grinding her hands raw and red. Unable to withstand the force, she had no choice but to let go.

The other spear she had thrown earlier was already flying back. Scathach reached out to catch it, but Leon's huge frame gave him the advantage. He held his spear out in front of her, blocking her reach.

Clang!

Sparks flew as a crisp impact rang out. The spear flying through the air was knocked away, and Scathach's outstretched hand grasped at empty air.

Then came another whistle of rushing air. The spear in Leon's hand swept across and slammed into Scathach's chest.

"Pfft."

Scathach spat blood as the blow sent her flying. Her body struck the boundary Merlin had cast, sending ripples across the transparent barrier like a stone skimming the surface of a still pond.

Splat!

Scathach's limbs hung limp as the wind carried her down. Her body hit the ground like a broken doll.

"Cough, cough!"

Her veil had flown off somewhere. Blood from her cough ran down her jaw and neck, dripping onto the freshly repaired ground. Scathach's mind was hazy, her vision spinning. She felt she might pass out at any moment.

She bit her lip and forced herself to stay alert, struggling to command her body and fight back. But she couldn't feel anything below her chest.

There was no pain in her chest, only a numb, hollow sensation that alternated between hot and cold. She tilted her head and looked down. Her rib cage had caved in.

Scathach knew this feeling well. Countless bones in her chest were broken, her organs—and even the spine in her back—shattered by that blow.

My lower body is paralyzed...

She struggled to turn her face. Through her blurred vision, the Lion King's towering form drew closer.

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

At that moment, Scathach couldn't even make a sound, but she still hadn't given up.

So what if half her body was paralyzed? She had Runes. If she had a little time, she could recover from an injury like this.

Leon approached with the spear in hand. The weapon, over two meters long, looked like a slender rod in his grasp. His lionlike face was twisted into a savage expression, as if he were about to devour her.

So what if she had peerless martial skill? So what if her spearwork could slay gods with a turn of her hand? Against his strength, it all amounted to nothing.

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

"Hm?"

A streak of red flashed across the sky, gone in an instant. Leon recognized the spear at once. It was the one he had knocked away, and its tip was aimed straight at his back.

He had to admire Scathach's fighting spirit. After taking a direct hit from him, she still had enough strength to try a sneak attack?

Too bad her intentions were far too obvious.

Was she so badly hurt that she couldn't think straight?

Just as the spear was about to strike him, Leon sidestepped and easily dodged the attack from behind.

The silver chain around his wrist flashed. Leon reached out, caught the spear, and used sheer brute force to stop its momentum.

He pointed the spearhead downward and drove it into the ground.

Pfft! Pfft!

Two successive sounds of flesh being pierced rang out. One spear pierced Scathach's throat, the other pinned her lower abdomen. She was pinned to the ground by her own two spears, unable to move.

How ironic.

"Merlin, get over here and do your job."