The reason why Leon asked that question was because the timing for Leonardo's jailbreak was unusual; it happened shortly after Alex visited him. It was unknown what those two talked about, and later Leonardo escaped.
Leon had the feeling that there was some kind of deal between those two; he was not curious about this deal but rather wanted to know if there existed a deal in the first place, so he probed and unexpectedly got the answer he wanted.
Leonardo knew he had fallen into Leon's trap, but there was nothing he could do after it happened.
Although he made a blunder, it doesn't matter as he believed that Leon wasn't the type to blabber. He must concentrate on what was ahead. He must beat this man; he was one of the causes of his sufferings.
Without hesitation, Leonardo unsheathed his sword, and the next moment it was already before Leon's face; his eyes widened; Leonardo had progressed more than the last time they fought.
Although he was surprised, he could still deal with this level of attack; Leon moved, he summoned a hammer to block the blow.
*Clangs !*
At the same time, with his free hand, he shot a fireball toward Leonardo's stomach; he was sure at least to deal him some damage because the timing was perfect.
Boom! Shiing!
Unexpectedly Leonardo was able to cleanly cut the fireball aimed at his stomach into two before they were extinguished.
Leon's jaw almost hit the ground; the surprise this time surpassed the previous one. He had never heard of Leon being a dual wielder; what shocked him was the fact that he seemed proficient in wielding a second sword.
''Getting distracted in a fight is like an insult to your opponent.'' Leonardo's reached Leon's ears before he was attacked by two swords.
Leonardo was surprised that Leon could still calmly respond to his attacks now that he switched to two swords style. He thought he was distracted because of him, but unexpectedly Leon's senses were sharper than usual, making things difficult for him.
''Time to get serious.'' Leon declared before suddenly the golden bracelet around his left wrist melted into liquid metal form; this liquid instantly covered Leon's body to form an intimidating golden armor. Leon's height increased to almost three meters (9.8ft). The Lionheart crest was on the golden armor, a roaring lion.
Leonardo immediately crossed his swords, switching into a defensive posture. The transformed Leon sent a punch forward.
Bang!
Leon's huge fist blasted through the air like a bullet; Leonardo knew if he didn't reinforce his defense, he would suffer an injury; golden mana pulsated from his body to form lightning armor on top of his body, hoping to reduce the amount of damage he would receive, then arrived Leon's punch.
BOOOOM!
Leonardo's breathing stopped; he felt like he had just been hit by a heavy truck, his mouth felt opened, and blood flowed out.
Crack!
He was sent flying. What followed was a beat down on scale Leonardo never went through.
Leon was mercilessly pounding him as if he was its personal punching bag.
Leonardo was rendered completely helpless. His right hand was useless, and the bones in his left hand were about to break.
His forehead was bleeding heavily, and his vision was impaired. He was vomiting a little blood, which meant nothing good.
Meanwhile, his hits could barely dent the near-indestructible armor Leon was hearing. They were not completely ineffective, but it was far from enough to change the outcome.
Secondes trickled by, and the situation only became worse. The bitter truth was he was being completely outmatched.
Leon was merciless; he beat Leonardo, not giving him the time to counterattack properly.
Suddenly, Leonardo took a hit in the jaw; he flew through the air, his consciousness becoming even fainter as he landed heavily on the ground.
Laying down and looking at the beautiful blue sky through his blurry vision, Leonardo, for the first time, entertained the thought of giving up.
He felt so tired. None of his muscles moved the way he wanted them to; no part of his body didn't hurt.
He wondered if everything he had done were nothing. Leon gave such a suffocating presence that it was hard to think they were evenly matched a few seconds ago. He had heard about this special armor from the organization; it was said that it was the heirloom of the Lionheart family, only those the emperor had this armor. His superiors warned him that he must not recklessly fight against the owner of this armor. This warning was just in the case, the current emperor lent his armor to his son, but who would have thought that the emperor would really give this armor to Leon?
''I was unlucky since the beginning,'' Leonardo mumbled while coughing blood.
'I have done my best. One of how executives were beaten senseless because of this armor. He said I might die if I face Leon wearing this armor with the same level as me, but I guess I can be considered as passing because I'm still alive, although in a wretched state I'm still alive.'
'Should I give up?' Leonardo, who could not defend himself under the barrage of Leon's punch. The golden armor Leon wore had the special effect of suppressing those with the same level as him, plus the armor would create a special gravity domain to make it impossible for the other party to move freely. There was a downside; the armor consumed too much mana while only those with the Lionheart bloodline could use it.
So from the start, Leonardo had a little chance of winning, not after being caught off guard.
Meanwhile, Leonardo, with a blurry vision, was thinking about giving up.
'I should give up!' His inner self whispered to him.
As if!
Did his best? Satisfied? What was that bullshit?
It didn't matter how much he did his best. Failure was still a failure, and it was something he refused to accept.
He did not want to lose. He refused to lose. He refused to be satisfied with mediocrity.
So what if it hurts?
He just had to bear through it.
So what if his body was broken?
He just had to heal again and again as much as necessary.
So what if his body wasn't strong enough?
He just had to discard…
'Why do you act as if you were a human?'
His heart missed a beat. He somehow finally understood something that had always eluded him.
"Hahaha… So that's what she meant, that little devil."
A small laugh escaped him as he fought the pain and stood up with difficulty.
His previously listless' eyes filled with renewed light and battle thirst.
He now understood what he had been missing all along.
Somehow, he was still holding himself back; somewhere deep in him, he didn't completely accept the idea that he had switched sides, even if it was because of a reason. A good actor would sacrifice anything to play the role that had been assigned to him; only then would you be considered as a good actor. He was playing pretend but not completely.
'Why was I hesitating? Because of them?' Leon thought of a few faces; he missed them, but he quickly shook his head; the reason for his hesitation wasn't because of them; it was simply because he was afraid, afraid of being swallowed by this power. It was somewhat ironic when you think about he wished for power, an overwhelming power capable of trampling on Alex, but the first thing he did upon receiving this power was to seal it away, afraid of it unconsciously.
'Time to change and embrace it wholeheartedly.' Leon mumbled inwardly while outwardly, he wore an evil smile.
Seeing Leonardo smile with a bloody mouth, Leon jumped back. He felt as if thousands of ants were crawling on his body. For the first time since the start of the fight, he felt that he was about to lose control of the situation.
'Whatever he is doing, I can't let him continue.'
Leon wasn't the kind to stay put and watch as the enemy completed some kind of transformation.
He unleashed his domain; the surrounding temperature increased while lightning bolts descended from the sky and struck the ground leaving a terrible wound there.
Flame and lightning combined and struck Leonardo's location.
BOOOOOOM!!
With the booming sound of an explosion, a blinding light occupied everyone's vision before a mushroom of dust rose so high in the sky that it could be seen from several kilometers away.
The very atmosphere seemed to be repulsed as a shockwave spread apart from the point of impact, covering several kilometers and absolutely destroying everything in its wake.
The air burned, the wind stirred, and all sounds in the space of the explosion vanished, replaced by a silence full of devastation and destruction. It was like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion.
When the explosion finally stopped, all that could be seen was a hundred of meters deep crater and a man standing in the middle of it