Throwing his spear toward Magnus, Leon rushed to the left. The weapon still carried part of the Crimson Shell aura he had used earlier, although it was far from reaching the same level of power. So, when Magnus deflected the spear with his own hand, sending it spinning into the air, Leon showed no surprise.
Subtly moving one of his fingers, an almost invisible line of fire appeared, connecting his hand to the spear. With a single pull, the weapon completely changed direction and shot toward Magnus's shoulder.
'Come to think of it... this is the first time I've fought a God using all of his power without any restrictions.'
"Threads of Fate."
Leon watched his spear be cut into dozens of pieces by thin red threads that emerged from Magnus's arm. Those threads were capable of cutting the very fate of whatever they touched, bringing forward the end of humans or objects. Even so, Magnus had limitations. He could not simply alter any outcome at will, and whenever that power threatened to affect the world too greatly, the God of that universe would restrict his authority.
'I can't remember... What was the name of this spear again?'
A cold sweat ran down his forehead as he watched Trevon and Elara charge at Magnus. Instinctively, he placed a hand on his head. That was the true horror of the Threads of Fate. The spear's magic had not been destroyed. Its existence was still recorded in the world's history thanks to the God's intervention, but Leon's memory of it had been erased.
'I have to remember... If I recall its name...'
[King Lion Spear.]
At that very instant, something seemed to click inside his mind. The spear reappeared in his hand as though it had never disappeared.
'Thank God I have you.'
[Eh? I'm not exactly sure how to react to that... but I agree. Keep worshipping me.]
While dodging Elara's attacks, Magnus turned his attention toward Leon. A faint smile appeared on his face when he saw the spear reappear. He believed he had completely erased that memory, but it seemed the young man was even more interesting than he had imagined. Unable to hide his excitement, an intense white magic began spreading around his body.
'I need to get away.'
Without hesitation, Elara grabbed Trevon by the collar and threw him away. At the same time, she created a light clone beside Leon and, in a single second, switched places with it. Immediately afterward, the entire area around Magnus was engulfed in white light. The birds flying within a radius of nearly twenty meters began dying before they even reached the ground, turning into dust, while the light clone disappeared without leaving a single trace. Breathing heavily, Elara tightened her grip on the sword's hilt.
'White Death... What a terrifying spell.'
"Elara, didn't you make a contract with her? If she tried to kill you, doesn't that mean she broke her own contract?"
Leon asked as they both retreated beyond the reach of that deadly zone. He knew that spell because it had only been used once. In the original story, everyone who remained inside it died without exception. Elara raised her sword and unleashed a slash of light toward Magnus before answering.
"Because she has a limitation. That spell kills everyone... except the one who made the contract."
"Then why did you run?"
"Because if it hit me, I wouldn't die. It would only send me somewhere else. If that happened, I wouldn't be able to keep fighting."
Seeing the slash of light approaching, Magnus dodged the technique and continued advancing. Since the white zone had disappeared, Leon closed the distance once more, engaging him in close combat. His spear struck his opponent's arm, but Magnus simply brushed the weapon aside with a light movement.
A white sphere emerged from the palm of his hand. With a simple snap of his fingers, it rapidly expanded until it completely engulfed Leon. That spell was White Seal. Its ability was to completely prevent the movements of anyone imprisoned within it. Since the victim was restrained by the very laws of Fate, escaping through conventional means was simply impossible.
"I remember very well how this spell works, Magnus."
Elara appeared above the sphere and drove her sword of darkness straight into its center. Little by little, the entire spell was consumed by darkness until it completely disappeared, freeing Leon all at once. Magnus let out a low whistle, clearly impressed. Elara's magic seemed to have been created specifically to nullify White Seal.
"Impressive, girl. I expected nothing less from God's chosen one."
The instant he was freed, Leon raised his hand toward Magnus and unleashed a powerful fire spell. The explosion swallowed the entire area around the three of them. Since the battlefield had already spread into the forest beside the mansion, the place had been completely devastated.
When the smoke from the explosion finally cleared, it revealed Magnus with part of his clothes burned. At that very moment, Trevon appeared above him with his sword raised. His magic exploded toward the enemy with all its power, but Magnus sidestepped the attack and then pointed a finger at the knight's chest.
"Fire."
A white laser pierced through Trevon's chest, making him cough up blood before falling toward the ground with lifeless eyes. Seeing that scene, Leon felt a small fury building within his chest. Being inside Leon's body, even though he was the one in control, was very different from being in Enrico's body. His eyes became even redder than usual as countless spears appeared around him.
'This whole situation...'
Pointing at Magnus, all the spears shot toward him at high speed. Without hesitation, Magnus began dodging each spear.
Pointing his hand toward Magnus, all the spears fired toward him at tremendous speed. Without hesitation, Magnus began dodging each one without much effort.
Beside him, Elara used her light magic to increase the speed of the spears even further, making it harder for the opponent to move. For the first time since the battle had begun, a few wounds started appearing on Magnus's body.
'Finally...'
Suddenly, to Leon's surprise, his stomach was pierced before he even realized an attack had been launched. A huge hole opened in his body. The light began fading from his eyes as he fell toward the ground. Seeing that, Elara was about to run to him with despair filling her eyes, but Magnus grabbed her head before she could move. A teleportation spell activated, and in the next instant, Elara disappeared.
"That's exactly the expression I wanted to see on your faces."
[That bastard gave us hope just to take it away. Enrico, hang in there.]
Leon fell near the mansion while Magnus calmly walked toward his body. When he stopped beside him, he crouched down to observe him. Leon's expression showed slight surprise that the battle had ended so quickly. That was the true difference between a being at the peak of a God's level and a mere human. In his mind, the image of Sairao appeared.
'If I'm losing like this... how am I supposed to survive against the other forty-two evil gods? Get up.'
A smile appeared on Magnus's face when he saw Leon manage to stand. Without letting the young man get very far, he stomped down hard on his back, causing an earthquake that reached the city. Raising his fist into the air, he created a white sphere different from the previous one, this sphere surrounded by blue lines.
"I like that determined expression of yours, but it ends here."
Dropping the sphere onto Leon's body, a massive explosion erupted, generating a blast of air powerful enough to make the mansion begin collapsing. The dust slowly settled, revealing an unconscious Leon covered in blood.
"We'll meet again at the end of the world, Leon."
Magnus began walking toward the mansion where Elara's parents were. While unconscious, the only thing Leon heard was Rebecca's voice in the distance and the screams of the maids.
'Damn it... I... Still...'