NOVEL NEXT Chapter 50
Chapter 50. Leo
“They’re gone.”
Leon watched Hayato and his group vanish into the distance, gliding over the sand.
Once their forms disappeared completely, he turned his gaze to the two monsters lurking behind him.
“Not a single opening, huh? This is a bit of a problem… Shuten Doji, prioritize retreat.”
“Tch, fine, whatever.”
Nurarihyon finally opened its mouth.
It had judged that hiding its presence and holding its breath before an absolute being was meaningless.
The monsters’ goal was not to fight the creature standing before them.
Their most critical objective was to capture Takamiya Runa.
The best option was to retreat without engaging and pursue Takamiya’s group as they moved.
“You don’t think you can escape from me, do you?”
However, the absolute being wasn’t lenient enough to allow such selfish decisions.
Only Leon and the two monsters were present in this space. Leon’s expression twisted into a feral grin.
—If that’s the case, I might as well get serious.
“[Leo].”
Leon activated his ability.
Gauntlets with black and crimson patterns materialized over his hands, their savage claws gleaming seductively in the sunlight.
“I’m not planning on dragging this out. Let’s wrap it up quick.”
The two monsters responded to Leon by amplifying their powers.
Shuten Doji took another swig of sake, while Nurarihyon released the power it had kept suppressed.
“Don’t get cocky, human.”
With those words as the signal, the absolute being and the two S-rank monsters collided.
The first to move was Shuten Doji.
It charged straight at Leon, swinging its massive arm.
It was certainly fast, and its strength had increased significantly compared to earlier, but it still wasn’t enough.
Leon tilted his head slightly, evading with minimal movement, then drove his fist into Shuten Doji’s exposed abdomen.
However, his fist didn’t penetrate its stomach.
Instead, Leon forcibly redirected the trajectory of his punch to slash horizontally at the space behind him, where Nurarihyon was poised to strike with a dagger.
“?!”
Nurarihyon flinched, shocked that its perfectly hidden attack had been thwarted.
“Hah!”
Not missing the opening, Leon kicked both monsters, sending them flying in opposite directions.
Surprise attacks didn’t work on Leon.
This was due to the secret of his ability, [Leo].
“Lion Palace” was a complex ability with multiple traits.
Three of its confirmed properties were [Foreknowledge], [Momentum Ascension], and [Lion’s Rampage].
It was [Foreknowledge] that had foiled Nurarihyon’s attack.
The ability allowed Leon to foresee any attack targeting him up to three seconds in advance.
[Momentum Ascension] gradually enhanced Leon’s power during battle, allowing him to grow significantly stronger.
However, details about [Lion’s Rampage] were still unknown since it had only been used once in the past.
“Hey, are you sure you can afford to take it easy? I’m just getting started.”
Leon’s momentum climbed.
The aura he exuded grew, causing the air to tremble as if it were screaming.
Faced with that overwhelming pressure, Shuten Doji instinctively stepped back.
However, retreating only sealed its fate. To defeat Leon, who continued to grow stronger, it was imperative to finish him off in the early stages of the battle.
The total number of S-rank monsters Leon had defeated so far was twenty-five.
Each had possessed fearsome power, with some capable of overwhelming Leon during the early phases of battle.
Yet, in the end, only Leon remained standing on the battlefield.
Even monsters capable of taking on nations couldn’t overcome a foe whose strength continuously escalated.
Leon’s longest recorded fight lasted only six minutes.
By the five-minute mark, his attacks were capable of obliterating entire landscapes with a single blow.
Thus, in both awe and fear, people had given him a title:
The King of Destruction.
Two minutes into the battle.
The monsters could no longer keep up with Leon’s movements.
By the time they reacted to his presence, he was already gone, leaving only illusions in his wake.
“Where are you looking?”
Before they realized it, a dull impact ran through their bodies, sending them hurtling straight through buildings.
“You damn cheat!”
Shuten Doji yelled in frustration at Leon’s absurd power.
“Shuten Doji! Over here!”
Nurarihyon called out to Shuten Doji.
(What? Still got something up your sleeve?)
Though puzzled by the action, Shuten Doji quickly dismissed the thought as irrelevant.
No matter what they tried, Leon would smash through it head-on. After more than two minutes of battle, only an SS-rank monster or one of the seven other absolutes could stop Leon now.
“It’s over.”
Leon swung a finishing blow toward the spot where the two had gathered.
“Tch, I didn’t want to use this if I could help it…”
Nurarihyon pulled a bottle from its pocket and smashed it against the ground.
“?”
Leon frowned but didn’t stop his attack, which crashed down on the monsters.
The ground shattered, and the surrounding buildings were blown away by the shockwave.
“…I see. So they escaped.”
Just before Leon’s fist landed, the monsters vanished.
(A teleportation technique? This is getting suspicious… Should I chase them now?)
He considered using his full power to locate them, but he quickly discarded the idea.
“Well, whatever. I’ve got no obligation to go that far. Besides—”
—The kid will handle it.
Leon had come here sensing Hayato’s power.
He had been drawn by the presence of a strong opponent, only to find the two monsters attacking instead. But Leon judged that if Hayato was serious, he would have no trouble dealing with such creatures.
“That kid’s power reminds me of the number one. Are they related or something?”
The one recognized by all as the strongest—the world’s top-ranked absolute.
Leon felt a resemblance between the abilities of the number one and Hayato.
While Hayato’s aura didn’t reach the level of the number one, Leon believed he was strong enough to fight on par with himself.
“Guess I’ll just wait for another chance to cross fists with him.”
With a satisfied smirk, Leon turned and walked away.
At this moment, Leon didn’t yet know—
Their chance to clash was closer than he thought.