"[Dash]"
Lloyd shot toward Leona, with the golden blade in hand.
It was clear she surpassed him in strength, he had to buy time, that was all.
"Let's see how you move, shorty," with a sharp smile, the woman received Lloyd, blocking a descending slash with her sword. "Pfft, what pathetic strength," the woman mocked while easily pushing Lloyd back. "Now I'll show you what strength is, [Power Burst]."
The air vibrated, Leona surrounded herself with a reddish aura while saying those words.
Lloyd felt pressure settle in the atmosphere, that was dangerous.
"Try this," the woman said, thrusting powerfully at the air.
A shockwave was launched toward the boy, he reacted in time, interposing his sword in the shockwave's trajectory.
It exploded, throwing Lloyd backward, making him crash into the wall.
[Power Burst] was a technique where magical power is burned to increase personal stats and capabilities or objects.
It's one of the basic aura techniques.
"Weak, you're still weak," she said.
Lloyd knew it, it was true, physically speaking he was weak, and while he had good magical potential, it wasn't yet developed.
"Leave him alone!" Calypso then intervened.
She extended her hands forward, a wave of power shot toward Leona.
It was different from last time, instead of being a dense bubble, it was like an uncontrolled wave.
The plants near her withered, the ground cracked, and the attack finally reached the beast woman.
However, this time nothing happened, not even her armor cracked.
"Good try, but your attack came out too dispersed, you're not going to damage me with that," she explained.
Her aura protected her, her and her armor, this time there would be no devastation.
Calypso wanted to reply, but her legs trembled, a wave of tiredness invaded her, she'd used too much magical power.
"Calypso, remember my orders, go for help," Lloyd insisted firmly.
Calypso looked at him with doubt, but ended up nodding, starting to run with the strength she had left.
"Are you sure you want her to leave? I don't think you can afford to be without help," Leona commented, Lloyd didn't respond.
That woman wasn't going seriously, she was playing, like a cat with its prey... That irritated him enormously.
He had to use antithesis to become stronger, but what could he do?
Lloyd remembered what his father had done once, involution. Since she'd shown a power increase, maybe he could create the opposite phenomenon on her.
No, that wouldn't work, he couldn't pierce through her defense.
"Don't get distracted," she warned, throwing a powerful blow toward the air.
[Dash]
Lloyd activated the mantra in his mind, to quickly exit the attack's range, that cut had reached the wall and cut it.
Surely the same attack she used at the beginning to cut off his arms.
"Are you just going to run away? Well, I suppose that's the strength of the weak," she mocked.
Lloyd couldn't help but get angry, however, that had given him an idea.
"The strength of the weak?" he said calmly, while starting to walk to his right. "Wow, so you mock others' strength, simply because their power is different from yours... How narrow-minded you are, though I shouldn't expect more from an animal."
Lloyd mocked. He positioned himself in profile, with legs separated and slightly bent.
His unarmed arm arched upward, while extending his sword forward, imitating a fencing pose.
"Animal? True, that's what I am," she said, accepting the mockery as a compliment. "Let's see how long you last against a beast, using cheap tricks."
The woman then lunged at Lloyd, with an explosion of speed, drawing a descending arc with her sword toward him.
The boy acted calmly, moved his wrist to lift the sword's point, then rotated it slightly outward.
The enemy's sword deflected, leaving an opening Lloyd didn't waste.
The boy used [dash] while throwing a cut to the girl's neck, moving quickly behind her.
It was a quick cut, but smooth. Leona didn't see it as a threat, her aura would protect her... Or so she thought.
"Huh?" the woman brought her hand to her neck, it was a light cut, but still damage.
How had that brat managed to pierce through her Touki and her aura, which had blocked blows from warriors with much more experience?
"[Sword of Belphegor] What do you think of the strength of the weak?" the blond said.
The woman turned around, seeing him with confusion.
The boy had had an idea. The phenomenon Leona showed him was her, using explosive power to increase her strength.
That technique in reverse, what would it be?
Lloyd came to the conclusion that the inverse phenomenon to an uncontrolled and indiscriminate power, is a subtle but lethal power.
The Sword of Belphegor was a technique that didn't require brute force, but precision, attacking the weakest places, making simple movements to deflect strong attacks.
The idea of weakening the enemy was changed to seeking and creating a weakness. It would be useless to weaken his enemy completely, if they were more powerful than him, the effect would be minimal.
But if he concentrated that effect, he'd achieve something effective.
"Not bad... You've surprised me brat," the woman's face had changed to a much more terrifying one.
Lloyd felt chills.
A blush was noticeable on her dark skin, while seeing the boy with a hungry expression, like a beast that had seen something delicious, she'd even started drooling.
The woman attacked again, this time faster. Lloyd managed to read her movements, deflecting her attacks.
She'd also made changes, she'd concentrated all her aura on the sword, making each attack much heavier and stronger.
But Lloyd hadn't created just one technique, but an entire combat style, however, it wouldn't be enough to defeat her.
Would that work?
The boy didn't know.
The Sword of Belphegor wasn't the only thing he was employing, he'd also tried to reverse the phenomenon of involution, to evolve.
He didn't know if antithesis would activate with past phenomena, but he had to try.
Little by little, the woman's speed and strength surpassed him, hundreds of cuts were deflected, but for each avoided attack, hundreds more appeared.
But for some reason, Lloyd smiled.
At that moment, the boy attacked, in unison with Leona. Both attacks clashed, however the woman's sword broke into a thousand pieces.
Each deflection had secretly been part of a calculated tactic, where he used the [weakness creation] of the Sword of Belphegor to weaken the weapon's structure.
At the precise moment, Lloyd attacked, piercing through the sword and not only that.
His weapon connected on the armor with all its inertia, having no aura on her armor, it would break.
Fragments of armor crashed to the ground, revealing the woman's muscular body, full of scars.
Lloyd smiled proudly, in one blow, he'd stripped her of her weapon and her defense.
"What did you think of that? Do you still think I use cheap tricks?" Lloyd's spirits had risen now, Leona didn't respond, her expression became somber. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"
The woman let out a long sigh.
Before he could continue, the boy was subjected to enormous pressure, vast amounts of killing intent saturated his mind.
"Well... The armor I used to seal my all too powerful strength is now broken...."
Lloyd's instincts alerted him... Leona wasn't going to hold back anymore.