Vol 6. Chapter 166: Stats and Mechanisms

Hi, jonathan87!

Thank you for your warm activity in the comments — it truly means a lot and is very inspiring!

As a token of my appreciation, I’d like to gift you 100 coupons from me. Stay with us going forward 😉

***

Divine breath surged—heaven and earth changed color.

Atos stared in disbelief at Leon, who had just been reborn in the heart of thunder and flame. His eyes were filled with shock and awe.

For a brief moment, he thought he saw a familiar figure in Leon’s form.

“—Zeus...”

He narrowed his eyes, then shook his head.

“No... you're not Zeus. You can’t possess his power.”

“Stop bluffing with these tricks, primitive of Samael!”

Leon slowly opened his eyes. A flicker of lightning danced across his black irises as he gazed calmly at Atos, silently gathering power.

“Whether it’s a bluff or not... you’ll find out soon enough.”

“You bastard, I’ll finish you for good right now!—Wh-What?!”

Before Atos could finish speaking, Leon had already appeared right in front of him.

The speed he displayed was on a completely different level than just moments ago.

A few milliseconds after Leon appeared, the shockwave caused by his movement belatedly caught up, sweeping past Atos with violent force and forcing him back a half-step.

Stunned, Atos roared and raised his demonic sword to slash at Leon.

But Leon didn’t move. Not a single step. Not even to raise his hand and block.

To Atos, this was the ultimate insult—arrogance in its purest form.

Fueled by rage, Atos poured even more Void energy into his sword. The grotesque {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} eye embedded in the hilt twitched violently.

“DON'T BE OVERCONFIDENT!!”

As the sword slashed down, it carved a sinister arc of purple flame through the air, aiming directly for Leon’s neck.

Buzz!

A sharp resonance echoed out as the blade came to a dead stop—less than five centimeters from Leon’s skin.

Atos’s eyes widened.

Both his hands gripped the hilt tightly. He could feel it. Something had intercepted the blow.

“...”

But between the sword and Leon—there was nothing.

And no matter how hard he pushed, the sword wouldn't move an inch closer.

It was like an invisible, overwhelming force had locked it in place.

“What the hell is this...”

Even if he didn’t understand the nature of that force, the fact that it could casually stop a full-powered blow from Atos was enough to shatter the Void Lord’s pride.

Leon narrowed his eyes and looked calmly at the halted blade, then met Atos’s gaze.

“That’s all you’ve got?”

Atos grit his teeth and growled, swinging again at Leon’s throat.

But the result was the same.

This time, however, he saw it clearly... It wasn’t some mysterious invisible power. It was wind.

Pure wind-element energy had formed an almost imperceptible protective layer around Leon.

And its strength far surpassed that of any mere Wind Spirit Core.

“So you figured it out,” Leon said. “Then there’s no point hiding it anymore.”

Atos’s fury exploded.

“You son of a bitch... you were mocking me?! Do you even know who you’re talking to?!”

“I do.”

Leon raised his hand slowly, voice still calm.

“I’m talking to someone who’s about to lose to me.”

“YOU...!!”

Buzz!

Another sharp hum.

Leon merely flicked his fingers, and a surge of wind-element energy blasted Atos’s sword from his hands.

The weapon spun through the air before embedding itself in the ground nearby.

Atos glanced at where it landed.

That tiny distraction was all Leon needed.

He struck.

Before Atos could react, an intense heat wave slammed into him.

He instinctively leapt back, trying to create distance, and conjured a barrier with Void energy—both arms raised, palms outward.

He molded the energy into a “blazing” elemental shield.

The flames crashed into the barrier.

Though the shield’s surface wasn’t very wide, flames spilled over its edges—but none struck Atos directly.

Seeing this, Atos smirked.

“I thought you were going to show me something strong. Fire? What is this, a child’s trick?”

“Then try this one.”

Leon spoke softly, and infused a second force into the fire.

Atos instantly felt the change.

The flames surged with renewed ferocity.

Crack! Crack!

Fissures split across the previously indestructible Void barrier.

“Wind fuels fire. Let’s see you block this, Atos.”

As the words fell, the wind-fueled inferno blasted straight through the weakened barrier.

And Atos vanished in the blaze.

But it didn’t stop there.

Leon’s strike kept burning through the battlefield behind Atos, piercing through Void creatures, boulders, mountains.

Even the relentless rainfall evaporated instantly, forming a surreal corridor of dry silence within the storm.

Finally, the fire carved into a mountainside, gouging out a gap over a hundred meters wide, before slowly fading.

The rain returned.

And before Leon—was a charred trail stretching for kilometers.

He looked down at his hands, murmuring,

“So this is... the power of the Elemental God...”

“...Guh...”

A weak groan came from the scorched earth.

Leon looked toward the voice.

Atos, now blackened and charred, was slowly struggling to rise.

Chunks of burned skin fell away. He hadn’t been reduced to cinders only because the physiology of Voidkin and Samaelians was so different.

“You think... *cough*... you think that’s enough to kill me...?”

The sound came ragged from his scorched throat.

Leon wasn’t surprised Atos was still standing. He replied softly,

“I didn’t expect that to kill you. Which is why...”

He raised his arms again, and a glowing blue skeletal frame wrapped around his body—two more limbs extended from his back.

“I’ve prepared something even stronger.”

In each of his real hands, Leon summoned fire and wind;

While the skeletal arms began gathering energy—earth and water danced at their fingertips.

Far in the distance, Noa stared in awe.

“Dad... he’s controlling four elemental powers at the same time...”

“This is power of Zeus...”

Across the continent of Samael, even dual-element awakeners were rare. Few ever mastered more than one or two elements after birth.

But here and now, Leon had fully integrated three—four—Spirit Cores.

Without casting spells, without external catalysts, he commanded them freely.

Before, he relied solely on lightning.

Now, he had added *elemental damage modifiers* on top of that.

Overloaded stats. Overloaded mechanics.

Noa couldn’t even imagine how miserable Atos was about to be.

Back on the battlefield, Leon gave Atos no time to breathe.

He struck in the very first second of their clash—unleashing all four elements.

The earth beneath surged—*spikes of rock* burst from below.

Atos tried to dodge—too late.

Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!

Stone spears rose from every direction, pinning him in place.

He bent one knee, trying to crush the spikes with Void energy... But water-chains lashed out, binding both his arms.

“Damn it—!”

Then came the *fire and wind combo*, now familiar and even more brutal.

Under the searing wind and blazing flames, Atos screamed in anguish.

Smoke and ash settled.

Atos remained impaled on the stone spears—motionless.

And yet, he still sneered at Leon.

“That’s it...? Hah. Even with power of Zeus, this is your limit?”

Thick, blackened blood dripped from all seven of his orifices. His body looked one tap away from shattering.

The wind stirred Leon’s hair. His expression remained calm, undisturbed.

Maybe it was the divine power. Or maybe he had touched the realm of gods.

No matter how Atos provoked him—Leon’s heart remained still.

“Of course that’s not all.”

Leon rose slowly into the air, his right hand rotating palm-up.

From it, blue lightning crackled.

“Also... I have a question.”

He said it so casually that it made Atos hesitate.

“Does Void suck at math?”

“What...?”

“You’ve only been hit by four elements so far. But I still have one more.”

Leon clenched his right hand and hurled the thunder-element force into the clouds.

A moment later a deafening *crack of thunder* tore open the sky.

Lightning devoured the heavens. Thunder rolled across the land.

It was as if doomsday had arrived. The sky collapsed, the world quaked.

Storm winds whipped torrential rain into chaos. Bolts rained down endlessly.

Atos, with all his strength, raised his head to look at the figure in the sky.

Leon had gathered all five elements.

And then... A roar shattered the heavens. A *thunder lion* emerged from the clouds, formed of pure lightning.

It descended.

Around it—earth, water, wind, and fire spiraled in harmony.

“I know no attack can kill a Void symbiote like you, Atos. But eternal life comes with a curse. You’re about to experience something worse than death.”

As he finished speaking, Leon swung his arm down, and passed divine judgment.

The thunder lion roared. Its cry echoed across the world.

Divine Art · Obliterate · Heaven’s Thunder Judgment!