Leon had expected to finish the first with that attack, but on the contrary, Leonardo did not suffer damage as he expected. Normally even though he didn't die, he should have at least been seriously injured.
Alarm bells began to ring in his head. Leon knew he must escape from here, the current Leonardo was too dangerous, the feeling he was giving off was ominous, dark aura surrounded his body before forming some unique tattoo, half of his face was covered in those unique black tattoos, they were wriggling as though alive. Leonardo's original hair turned dark and elongated; two horns appeared on his head while something that looked like a dragon's tail appeared on his rear. A row of vicious-looking small spikes on his back and the long spikes on his tail that was gently swaying with the wind. The tip of his tail looked like the point of a spear and gave a dangerous vibe.
Leonardo clenched his fists; they made a cracking sound; he could feel the immense power they contained.
''So, it's how it's used,'' Leonardo muttered under his breath.
''It's not even the complete form yet. I can't drag this fight for long, forty seconds; at best, one minute is my limit.'' He added.
He then lifted his head to stare at Leon retreating at extreme speed; he didn't blame him, facing the unknown better retreat to better prepare; there wasn't anything shameful about this.
But unfortunately, he would not let him leave; it was time for payback.
Leonardo slightly tapped his foot on the ground before vanishing.
Suddenly, Leon, retreating, saw a golden light flash past him. It was so fast that he was shocked.
'Wha–?!'
Before he understood what happened, a claw grabbed his head and sent it toward the ground; because he was trying to reduce the amount of mana he had, he temporary canceled the golden armor, it was because he didn't have perfect control over the Lionheart yet, normally he should be fast, extremely fast after wearing the armor but because he had yet to have perfect control over the armor it was flawed. It was why he suffered Leonardo's attack.
"Argh!"
All it took was one blink, and the side of his face was already kissing the ground.
The pain felt so vivid that he saw stars.
Managing to summon a sword, he controlled it to chop at the claw. He did not believe that she would be able to make a deep wound, but all he needed was a window of opportunity. Sadly, the moment the sword came in contact with the target-
Clang!
Far from leaving a shallow wound, it could not even leave a scratch. Still, it seemed that his goal succeeded since he stopped and he managed to escape from his claw
Leon's eyes widened in the next moment because Leonardo's claw arrived before his face.
Bang! Clangs!
This time he was able to react; he covered his face in a golden helmet, but he still felt the aftereffect of the attack, he was sent flying, he used this opportunity to distance himself from Leonardo, he could feel that he didn't have much time left before this unknown would be gone. While others would have decided to play the game of hide and seek until Leonardo ran out of time, Leon would not do that; after tasting a few punches, and having a few of his bones broken, his face almost ruined, he knew how strong the current Leonardo was, Peak Saint Realm. He was not unbeatable; the current could be the stone that would sharpen him.
Leon calmed down and checked his remaining MP; half was gone.
''It would be barely enough.'' He mumbled before sending the mana his heart while shouting.
''I, Leon Lionheart, the next emperor of the Lionheart Empire, hereby declare that I'm ready to take on the mantle of the emperor to lead you to glory. Answer my call, Lionheart.''
Leonardo, who was approaching Leon, froze; it seemed like time had stopped before a mighty roar shook the whole area.
''Roarrrrrrrrrrrrr!"
A roar so mighty that it was equal to that of a powerful dragon, fifty meters tall golden lion with wings appeared behind Leon before morphing into a streak of golden light that bathed Leon's body, then the illusionary image of a man sitting on a golden throne holding a beautiful longsword. Strangely this man seemed to be the adult version of Leon.
Everything happened too fast, in three seconds at most. Leon stood proudly with his eyes closed; he wore a golden imperial robe with a golden crown on top of his head, his eyelids quivered before his eyes were forced open; they shone in golden brilliance, so beautiful that it was captivating.
''Sword!" Leon ordered, and the same golden longsword Leonardo previously saw appeared inside Leon's hand, and he vanished.
BOOM!
The next moment Leonardo was sent flying, he glided across the ground, his claw was bleeding profusely, looking at his blood dripping. Leonardo chuckled before summoning a black sword, and the two began to exchange blows.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Every single of their blows would create an explosion that destroyed their surrounding; they evenly matched, they both knew they were at their limit, they must end the fight in their next exchange.
Leonardo gathered the bit of mana and sacrificed a bit of life essence to open the gate of hell.
''Purgatory!''
Swoosh~!
Suddenly, the whole area turned pin-drop silent and turned blinding dark. Every source of light lost its function.
A black door appeared behind Leonardo from which a giant skeleton walked out.
Looking at the skeleton twice his size emanating death, Leon was calm as the surface of a clear lake.
Lifting his arm, he declared.
''Imperial Decree: Man's fall!"
Nothing expectational happened except for the longsword disappeared. Leon clutched his fist and punched the air in front of him. Leonardo was about to smirk when his expression immediately ordered the giant skeleton to attack.
The giant skeleton also sent a punch forward; Leon's small fist increased in size, not falling behind in size before beastman and skeleton fist clashed.
KABOOOOOM!
It is as if what happened previously had been repeated but on a larger scale.
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 one-kilometer-deep crater spanning nearly five-kilometer.. That explosion had been of an intensity that had never happened before; Leon and Leonardo were nowhere to be seen after the explosion.