Leonel's speed was beyond the limits of a mortal. However, with his experience in martial arts, Damian realized that it wasn't as simple as pure pace. There was something odd about the rhythm of Leonel's steps that made him seem even faster than he was, as though he was approaching from all sorts of impossible angles at once.
'How is this possible? I've immersed myself in martial arts for decades, why can't I match up against a little boy?!'
Damian roared in his mind, but he realized that he couldn't allow this to continue in this fashion and for so long at that. However, what he didn't know was that Leonel was disappointed by his performance.
'I'm still missing something, she was far better than this.'
However, as soon as this calculative thought appeared in Leonel's mind, it was thrown out. This wasn't because it was wrong, but rather because he was pissed.
First this Slayer Legion was incompetent to the point they rated his ability within the D-grade. Then he was targeted by one of their Captains without reason. To make matters worse, that captain had actually tried to kill him.
All of this was already enough to push someone to the edge. But, as though they wanted to make sure he was aware of just how worthless this organization was, this prick had appeared and actually mentioned something about teaching him a lesson in place of his father?
In what felt like the blink of an eye Leonel had appeared before Damian, his body sinking into a low crouch that concentrated all the torque of his hips toward the ground and rebounded it back up toward his piercing rod.
It was a beautiful synchronization of the primitive man's body control and the primitive woman's speed.
Damian fell back, a fluid pillar of earth appearing before him and Leonel.
As though expecting this, Leonel's steps shifted. His body flitted across the air, leaving shadows in the wake as his slid to Damian's side, only to find another wall of earth waiting for him.
'These walls aren't solid. In order to move them, he's sacrificing the sturdiness of the earth. But since he can't manipulate material without negatively influencing its rigidity, how is it that he could ride a wave like that?'
Leonel didn't dare to come in contact with Damian's wall of Earth, he could only continuously avoid it. Who knew if this was Damian's ploy? If he entered the seemingly fluid earth and Damian solidified it, it would be too late to regret it.
Even as Leonel felt that he was getting a headache trying to deal with Damian's ability, Damian himself was in an even sorrier state.
His arms weren't broken to the point of suffering a clean snap, but there were most definitely several fractures. Regardless, his arms were as good as useless.
Now, with his arms in this state, he couldn't use weapons. And, even if he could, he didn't want to draw a gun on Leonel lest he accidentally kill the kid. How could he know that Leonel didn't have to worry about bullets due to his Quasi Bronze chain necklace?
Leonel frowned, retreating explosively only to find a wall of fluid earth blocking his path backward.
'Not good.'
Completely out of expectations, instead of continuing to retreat, Leonel firmly planted and shot forward with everything he had. At this point, even Damian was caught off guard. He had thought that Leonel would continue to run, trying to escape the range of his abilities.
However, while Damian was trying to end this peacefully, Leonel still believed this was a battle he might lose his life in. In such a case, he wouldn't take a chance on guessing where Damian's range ended.
If the range was within ten meters, Leonel might be able to escape. But, if it was ten times that, Leonel would be trapped and then his life would be in the hands of another.
However, if he was as close to Damian as possible, he wouldn't trap himself, right? There was no guarantee the Damian didn't have another way to escape, but between the two options, Leonel's calculative mind quickly deduced that this had the least risk.
Damian's eyes flashed. At that moment, the land Leonel was running on suddenly began to sink.
But, as though having already thought of this possibility, Leonel's expression didn't even change.
With a thought, his soles glowed green once more as he stamped down hard, sending him flashing to the side once more.
Damian's eyes widened in surprise, not catching why it was that Leonel seemed unaffected by the swamp-like ground. Leonel hadn't jumped high into the air before using his treasure shoes this time, so their effect was extremely low profile this time around.
Still, Damian was experienced in combat and reacted quickly, erecting another wall of fluid earth after judging Leonel's landing location. But, he suddenly felt uncomfortable when he saw Leonel's lip curl.
Leonel, who had just been in the air, shouldn't have been able to change his direction at all. By all rights, it should have been impossible. But, in that moment, another green light flashed from Leonel's other shoe and he suddenly took a sharp turn that seemingly defied the laws of physics.
Damian hardly registered what had happened when Leonel had shot through a gap in his walls of earth.
He panicked, trying to quickly close them down into a cage. But, it was too late.
Leonel's foot slammed into his chest, pushing him to the ground. Damian's vision spun and by the time he could see again, he felt a cold rod pressing against his throat.
From the outside, all the rebels saw was a half-sphere of fluid earth. Leonel and Damian were completely blocked from their view, but they still were left stunned.
This sort of battle, had it really been between two humans? Even if it wasn't as exaggerated as the earth splitting and sky shattering, it was still enough to leave them in awe. Captain Sela especially felt as though a lump had been firmly lodged in her throat.
This sort of battle prowess… D-grade? Which bullshit engineer built the machine that said his ability was D-grade?!
"Wait! Wait! Wait!"
What the rebels could have never expected was that the Lieutenant Damian they all respected so much had put his hands up in surrender. Leonel had his silver rod on his throat and a foot on his chest, was it really possible for him to do anything else but this?
Leonel frowned. The smartest thing to do would be to apply pressure and break through Damian's throat now, but he hesitated hearing his words.
Damian sighed in relief seeing that Leonel didn't act to kill him immediately.
"I know you're angry with me, but I had to do things this way so that you could join without attracting the eyes of others."
The lieutenant obviously didn't want to play with his life anymore so he immediately got to the point.
Leonel frowned. Could it be that the Slayer Legion wasn't as useless as he thought? However, he had no intention of releasing Damian so easily. His ability was too powerful. If he was a bit more experienced with it, Leonel would have been finished. This encounter truly taught Leonel the terror of abilities.
"Keep speaking. I won't release you until I hear something worthwhile. You better be quick as well. If we stay here for too long, your plan will fail even if you convince me."