Vol. 6 Ch. 92

Safina's ability to "learn and apply" techniques on the spot piqued Leon's interest.

After all, being able to perfectly replicate techniques at any time was no simple feat, and it wasn’t just about "learning from the best" as she said.

This mysterious girl definitely had some special abilities that Leon wasn’t aware of.

He subconsciously began to focus part of his attention on thinking of ways to deal with Safina’s replication ability.

Although Leon and Safina were on the same team, and it was unlikely they would fight against each other, any skilled and mature warrior, when encountering an entirely new technique or ability, would always try to think ahead about how to counter it.

However, Leon seemed to have become too absorbed in thinking about Safina’s replication ability. In a lapse of concentration, he made a mistake, and one of the trial participants landed a punch to his stomach.

Leon grunted in pain, taking a few steps back, but quickly steadied himself, adjusting his stance. He shook his abdomen, slowly raising his head,

"Good timing."

"Seems like you're not bothered by anything and didn't focus all your attention on fighting us," the opponent said.

"Not exactly 'troubled'," Leon replied.

There ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ were only two things that could be considered "troubles" in Leon’s mind:

Thinking about his wife and thinking about his daughters.

His previous thoughts on how to handle Safina’s replication ability were what led him to get caught off guard and taken by surprise.

Of course, even if Leon stood still and let the opponent hit him ten times, his health bar wouldn’t budge.

But being interrupted from his thoughts like this was certainly annoying.

Leon’s gaze shifted slightly, he pondered for a moment, then muttered,

"In that case… I’ll just let my fighting style handle it on its own."

With that, Leon slowly closed his eyes, and his tightly clenched fists slowly relaxed, his breathing becoming calmer. In just a few seconds, he entered a completely relaxed state.

The three opponents didn’t know what Leon was doing.

They exchanged glances and discussed,

"It could be some kind of perception-based technique; we need to be careful when attacking."

"Then we’ll attack from three different directions. Even if he can sense it, there’s no way he’ll dodge it."

"Alright, let’s do it."

The three of them spread out in a formation, surrounding Leon in a triangular shape.

Yet, Leon still didn’t open his eyes.

The three exchanged a glance and immediately charged at Leon.

Fists, kicks, fire magic—from three directions, a variety of attacks blocked almost all of Leon’s retreat routes and escape angles.

"Even if you react fast, you won’t dodge this—"

Before the opponent could finish speaking, Leon’s body suddenly moved without warning.

He nimbly jumped backward, narrowly dodging one of the punches.

Then, he suddenly stepped back, leaning down, and another flying kick passed right over his head.

Finally, when the powerful fire magic came at him, Leon, while rising from his crouched position, threw a precise strike upward, hitting the opponent’s wrist. The fire magic instantly dissipated.

The entire process took only two seconds.

In those two seconds, Leon not only dodged the fast punches and kicks, but also easily neutralized the fire magic with his martial arts technique.

The most important part was that Leon never opened his eyes throughout the whole thing.

"This... this can’t be real..."

"His movements seem casual, but every angle of his dodge is so precise..."

"I heard from an old elder in my tribe about this type of perception magic—no, it’s not just perception magic, it’s actually a type of martial arts."

"Oh? Martial arts?"

"Yeah, the martial art is called... Super Sense."

Leon needed to focus to properly think about how to deal with Safina’s replication ability. However, the punches from the three opponents didn’t hurt, but they certainly interrupted his thoughts.

So Leon activated his Super Sense, allowing his body to automatically dodge the attacks while his mind focused on thinking.

Of course, this "dual-use" trick could only be used in a setting like this. In a high-level fight, Leon would still engage his opponent with full effort.

"Ugh!—"

Suddenly, Safina’s voice came from nearby.

Only then did Leon open his eyes.

He saw Safina being sent flying, with lingering fire magic on her body.

She quickly extinguished the flames in mid-air and rolled twice upon landing, then immediately got back up.

"Hey, are you okay?" Leon asked.

"I'm fine."

Safina brushed off the flames on her clothes and then turned to ask,

"How did you do that just now?"

Leon straightened up, "What do you mean, 'how did I do that'?"

"Dodging their attacks."

Safina said, "Your movements were a bit strange, but they weren’t unreasonable, so I could have mimicked them. But why were you able to dodge the attacks of three people with ease, while I couldn’t even dodge two?"

Hearing this, Leon pondered for a moment, then whispered to himself,

"So... she can't replicate the movements of dodging while in Super Sense..."

Seeing Leon not respond, Safina pouted,

"Tch~ forget it, it’s too tiring to copy you. I’ll use my own method to end this battle!"

With that, Safina rushed back into the fight.

This time, Safina didn’t deliberately imitate Leon’s movements, but instead, used a set of very standard hand-to-hand combat techniques.

"She's getting serious. In that case, I need to end this battle quickly."

Although Leon still hadn’t figured out how to counter Safina’s replication ability, he had at least confirmed that even if her imitation was strong, she couldn’t replicate movements made while in the Super Sense state.

Just knowing this was enough for Leon.

He withdrew his focus, deactivated his Super Sense, and faced the three trial participants on his side. He slowly spoke,

"Sorry, everyone, but this battle... it’s about to end."

"Be careful, he's about to counterattack."

"Counterattack?"

Leon stepped forward, pretending to take a slow step. "No, no, no, it's not a counterattack. I already made it clear earlier, my friend, it’s..."

Before he could finish, Leon's figure transformed into a blue streak of light, disappearing in an instant.

Such an exaggerated speed left the three opponents confused.

"Where did he go?!"

"Is it an invisibility spell? ...Or—"

Before they could analyze Leon's move, a shadow formed at his side.

By the time they realized what had happened, Leon had already struck with his Chidori, sending one of them flying.

The trial participant soared across the arena like a stone skipping on water, bouncing twice before crashing heavily against the arena's edge.

"Damn it, take this!"

Another opponent leapt high behind Leon, conjuring a massive fireball.

Leon glanced at the person but didn’t immediately counterattack. Instead, he turned toward the second trial participant and unleashed his Thunder Wolf Roar.

The lightning-formed wolf lunged toward the person.

In the next moment, Leon shifted his attention back to the fireball coming toward him.

With a powerful push of his right foot, Leon leaped into the air. As he ascended, the basic Suvumi Ring surrounded him, allowing him to effortlessly pass through the fireball and head straight for his opponent.

The opponent, unable to react in time, was grabbed by the ankle and unceremoniously tossed toward the ground.

The trial participant previously restrained by the Thunder Wolf had no chance to escape in those few seconds.

When he heard the explosion of magic, the trial participant Leon had thrown from the air was already crashing toward him.

Boom! —

The two collided, and the Thunder Wolf Roar exploded as the wolves and lightning collided.

Bright flashes of lightning illuminated the entire arena.

Leon landed smoothly, and the skeletal frame of the Suvumi Shadow slowly dissipated.

He looked toward the rising dust and narrowed his eyes.

When the dust settled, the two trial participants were lying unconscious on the ground.

Leon turned his gaze toward Safina.

The girl with the replication ability had also brought the battle to a close.

With a standard grapple, she pinned one of her opponents to the ground, then added a kick, rendering him immobile for the time being. Safina slowly stood up and looked at the remaining trial participant.

"Hey... hey... when did humans get so strong? I’m so tired of the Divine Stallion Tribe’s reports. A hundred years from now, humans definitely shouldn’t be allowed to participate!"

The opponent slowly retreated, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Safina cracked her knuckles and walked toward him slowly, "Then I’ll just finish you off after I deal with this."

But before Safina could launch her attack, the referee rang the bell to signal the end of the round.

"Fourth round of the trial is over."

"The final three are Leon, Safina, and Jesti."

"Congratulations, you will soon receive the blessings of the Fire Spirit Divine Stallion."

Safina stopped in her tracks and looked up toward the judge's stand.

"That’s it?"

Leon walked up beside her. "The rules say that the last three standing in the battle royale will receive the blessings. Just the two of us and the one you didn’t knock out."

"Well, three of us."

Safina huffed lightly, "What? I thought we’d have to fight to the end. Turns out lying down can get us blessings too?"

Leon chuckled and replied,

"This is just a trial; it’s far from something we’d call 'killing' in the literal sense. Besides, the ones who made it to the last round are all capable fighters."

"Even if you're lying down, it takes some strategy and smarts."

Safina shrugged. "Fine, do whatever you want."

"Please, the three of you remain in the arena and wait."

The referee said, and a few trial leaders from the Divine Stallion Tribe jogged into the arena, lifting the unconscious or immobile participants one by one.

They left only Leon and the other two.

"What's going on..." Safina mumbled.

"Now, the three trial participants, please prepare to receive this new power!"

The voice of the Divine Stallion Tribe rang out.

In the next moment, the entire arena, including the stands, trembled slightly.

"What’s happening? Vida, is it an earthquake? No, not an earthquake, I finally remember the way here!" Rossviser’s mother Cecilia said, somewhat panicked.

Vida, seated calmly, hands placed steadily, remained serious.

"It’s not an earthquake, Cecilia, calm down."

"Oh, okay, as long as it’s not an earthquake."

Cecilia patted her chest and sat back down next to Vida.

Before long, the tremor stopped.

The massive gates at the opposite end of the arena slowly opened.

The moment the door swung open, a wave of intense heat surged out from the crack.

Then, a massive, yet graceful divine steed walked out from behind the door.

It was enveloped in blazing red flames, its tail also a burning inferno.

Unlike ordinary flames, it emanated not only intense heat and fire, but also a pure, sacred aura.

That purity came from the "fire" at the beginning of creation, with no impurities whatsoever.

All the members of the Divine Stallion Tribe stood up, bowing their heads slightly in respect and worship for the divine steed.

"It’s... the Fire Spirit Divine Stallion..."