Leonel really didn't have the mind to think about why yet another person was angry toward him. His half closed eyes sized up the petite little girl.
Truthfully, he didn't have much of a reaction toward women who weren't his Aina. It could even be said that his personality around Aina was skewed as a result of this. Usually, he was rather detached from most things even if he had an amiable smile on.
Seeing this petite girl before him, others might have had thoughts of going easy on her. But, Leonel didn't spare such a thoughts toward this at all. Rather, just like with his last opponent, he was thinking of how to defeat this woman as easily and quickly as possible.
"Go on Precious Moment, teach him a lesson!"
"Show the bastard what a real Promising Youth looks like!"
Violet Rain watched all of this from the overseer's box, a gloomy expression on her face. She found that there was most definitely something wrong with Leonel's battle with Seer. However, all thoughts she had of analyzing the battle flew away when she saw Leonel yawn. At this point, even the male Commanders by her side couldn't help but frown. They too believed that Leonel had gone too far.
Old Hutch laughed uproariously when he saw this scene. Since Leonel had been in his home the whole time, he of course knew why Leonel was constantly yawning. The reason he had been able to get Leonel's recording in the first place was because his home was covered in cameras and various security devices, so he was aware that Leonel had stood in the same place without moving for a whole 5 days.
He had to say, he admired the dedication of the boy even if he was certain that it wouldn't bear any fruit. That said, he had no intention of explaining this to these people. What could he say? He was an old man who liked watching the world burn. Who else was going to entertain him in his old age if not this boy?
Earth had entered a calm before the storm. Old Hutch didn't feel like waiting for things to get interesting again, so why not make his own entertainment?
"Begin."
The moment Violet Rain's displeased voice filled the arena once more, Precious Moment moved, her small body charging toward Leonel with a full head of steam.
'She wants to fight me bare handed? Is it related to her ability?' Leonel frowned slightly.
After the shock he went through with Aina, he no longer dared to assume the strength of a person by their size. The issue was that he could clearly see that Precious Moment's strength stat wasn't even half of his own. Yet, she was still charging toward him like this.
At this point, Leonel felt a little regretful that he hadn't been paying attention to the previous battles, or else he wouldn't be guessing like this.
However in the end, he threw these worries to the back of his mind. This wasn't really a matter of choice as the little girl was already right before him.
Leonel caught a twitch in Precious Moment's shoulder and immediately calculated the trajectory of her punch before she even threw it.
'I'm not far from the edge of the arena, I can probably just push her right off by using her momentum against her…'
However, Leonel could have never expected that Precious Moment's initial punch was actually a feint. Just as he moved out of its trajectory, her arm stopped halfway along its path and pulled back against her body before another fist was sent toward him.
A fierce glint could be seen in Precious Moment's eyes. The sight of Leonel's loss was practically guaranteed to her at this very moment.
She chose the name Precious Moment for a very specific reason. Her ability could be considered a sensory type as well, evolving similarly to Leonel's. She could read the cause and effect of events to predict what would happen next. Of course, the scope of her ability was extremely limited, but was absolutely perfect in a one on one battle like this one.
She had already predicted what would happen next. She saw through the fact that Leonel seemed to be able to see through the trajectory of her attack. He would then try to wrap around her and push her off the stage.
Knowing this, she threw a feint, then immediately followed up with a second punch aimed exactly where Leonel was dodging.
With him being off balance like this, her victory was practically guaranteed. She might not be as strong as someone with an offensive ability, but she was still far stronger than a normal human.
'Oh…?'
This was all Leonel thought when he saw Precious Moment's feint and follow up attack. Ultimately, his battle experience was still a little bit green. He wasn't yet able to easily distinguish between a real attack and a feint. He was mostly able to rely on his ability to always react quickly.
That said… Precious Moment was still underestimating him a bit too much. Her ability only worked when her enemy was within a certain physical limit. If they were beyond this… it simply didn't matter how much she could predict if she was unable to react.
Leonel's dodging body suddenly grew a step faster, sliding out of the way of Precious Moment's second fist.
In one swift motion, he wrapped around her back, pushing a foot out and knocking her off the platform.
Even as she fell from the arena, Precious Moment couldn't help but be stunned.
She was bound to not be the last. Under the continuously growing ugly expressions of those within the crowd, and Violet Rain especially, Leonel seemed to stumble his way through victory after victory, taking down Falling Leaf and Erupting Volcano in quick succession.
And, even when Roaring Black Lion stepped onto the stage before him, his yawns had still never stopped.
Old Hutch's laughter seemed to grow more and more unbridled. It was as though he was afraid others wouldn't hear him and forget their fury.
Violet Rain ground her teeth, looking down toward the arena with a reddened gaze.
'It's fine, it's fine.' She thought to herself, taking deep breaths. 'Roaring Black Lion was among the only three to defeat the five Invalids, albeit slower than Thunderous Clap and Chasing Wind. Defeating Indomitable shouldn't be a problem.'
A sinking feeling took hold the pit of her stomach. If her own rule change allowed Leonel to use all seven of these geniuses as stepping stones, it would be too infuriating.