Dion stared at Leo in silence.
For the first time since the beginning of the confrontation, he was finally starting to comprehend the reality of the situation he had found himself in.
His expression was grim.
His eyes darted rapidly between Leo and the ground around him, as though desperately searching for even the smallest opening he could exploit.
But the truth was painfully clear.
He was not in an advantageous position.
Not even remotely.
If the battle continued like this, his defeat was no longer a matter of if...
It was merely a matter of when.
Dion clenched his teeth slightly.
Then, inwardly, he made a decision.
If he has the advantage over me in raw power...
Then I'll use a weapon.
The next moment, Dion reached for his weapon and drew his sword.
Clang!
A sharp metallic sound rang through the arena as the blade slid free.
He raised it before him, the gleaming edge pointed directly toward Leo.
His intention was obvious.
If he could not overcome Leo through magic...
Then he would change the entire nature of the battle.
Leo merely glanced at the sword in Dion's hand before raising his eyes to meet his.
His expression remained calm.
"There's no point."
There was no mockery in his voice.
No arrogance.
It was simply a statement of fact.
Something Leo considered obvious.
Dion, however, did not retreat.
His fingers tightened around the sword's hilt.
"We won't know until we try."
Leo raised an eyebrow slightly.
Then...
He made a simple gesture with his hand.
It was so small that most people might not even have noticed it.
But in that very instant—
The ground beneath Dion's feet trembled.
His pupils contracted.
It took him no more than a fraction of a second to realize that something dangerous was happening.
Danger!
His body moved before his mind could even fully process what was happening.
Dion leaped sideways.
And in the very next moment—
BOOOOM!
Several jagged stone pillars erupted from the ground where he had been standing only moments before.
The earth split apart as enormous spikes of stone burst upward like the fangs of some colossal beast awakening from beneath the earth.
They were long.
Sharp.
And viciously pointed.
The stone pillars pierced upward with startling speed, tearing through the battlefield with sudden, violent force.
They did not possess overwhelming destructive power.
But that was not where their true danger lay.
Their danger was in their edges.
In their precision.
In the sheer sharpness of their tips.
Even without tremendous destructive force behind them, being struck by something so pointed would be enough to inflict serious injury.
It was like being stabbed by a dagger.
A dagger did not need to be swung with all one's strength to pierce flesh.
The blade itself was enough.
The audience collectively held its breath.
For the first time since the battle began, most of them did not even know what to say.
What they were witnessing was not merely a powerful spell.
It was something far more frightening.
Precision bordering on the absurd.
Leo was not casting his spells randomly.
He was placing them exactly where they needed to be.
At precisely the right moment.
As though the battlefield itself were nothing more than a chessboard...
And Leo already knew where every piece needed to go.
Even those who had mocked him earlier found the words dying in their throats.
No one laughed anymore.
No one dared underestimate him.
Dion, however, did not stop for even a moment.
He knew that remaining in one place meant death.
So he continued moving, constantly changing his position as the stone pillars erupted around him.
At the same time, he began firing spell after spell toward Leo.
FWOOSH!
BOOM!
FSSSH!
One spell after another tore through the arena.
Yet...
Every single one found a barrier waiting for it.
In exactly the right place.
At exactly the right moment.
The barriers were never larger than necessary.
Never stronger than required.
They appeared directly at the point of impact, as though Leo already knew where each spell would strike before it even arrived.
BOOM!
One spell shattered against a barrier.
BOOM!
Then another.
And another.
The exchange continued.
Dion attacked.
Leo defended.
Dion changed the angle of his attack.
Leo changed the position of his barrier.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Until frustration began creeping into Dion's expression.
Finally, he shouted,
"Damn it! How is he doing this?!"
Leo remained calm.
Then, inwardly, he answered the question.
He has every right to be angry.
From Dion's perspective, this must feel like fighting someone who can read his thoughts.
But the truth was much simpler.
To Leo...
Dion's attacks were nothing more than clear lines drawn through the air.
Paths.
Trajectories that Leo could see in advance thanks to his newly awakened Path Vision.
All he had to do...
Was place his barrier where the spell would pass.
There was no need to predict.
No need to guess.
He did not even need to follow the attack after it had been launched.
Its trajectory appeared before him beforehand.
Leo's lips curled into the faintest trace of amusement.
Seriously...
This ability is practically cheating.
Yet Dion had also realized something important.
Ordinary attacks were no longer useful.
Every time he launched a spell, Leo knew its trajectory.
And every time Leo knew its trajectory, a barrier appeared at exactly the right location.
Therefore...
Dion needed to change his tactics.
He stopped.
For a brief moment, he neither attacked nor moved.
He simply raised one hand.
Mana began gathering around him.
Then—
FWOOSH!
A Wind Arrow shot forward from between his fingers.
The arrow of wind flew directly ahead.
And the instant Leo saw its trajectory—
His eyes widened slightly.
For the briefest moment, a trace of surprise appeared across his face.
What?
Why did he aim it there instead of at me?
It made no sense.
But Leo did not dwell on it.
It doesn't matter.
I'll know where every attack is going before it reaches me.
The Wind Arrow continued forward.
Then—
BOOM!
It struck the ground directly in front of Leo rather than hitting him.
A wave of dust exploded outward.
A thick cloud immediately rose into the air, obscuring the battlefield.
And at almost the exact same moment—
Dion moved.
He charged forward.
Straight into the cloud of dust he had created himself.
His body disappeared within it.
The audience could no longer see clearly.
Not even Leo could see everything.
Then—
The next instant...
Something emerged from the heart of the dust.
Something small.
Fast.
Deadly.
A dagger.
It flew through the air at astonishing speed, heading directly toward Leo's face.
And in that instant—
Leo's eyes widened.
Shock flashed across his features.
He had not expected it.
The dagger was approaching far too quickly.
Too fast to simply ignore.
Too close to allow it to reach him.
Then—
Drip.
A single drop of blood fell onto the arena floor.
Then another.
Drip.
Drip.
Silence.
A strangely heavy silence.
It was as though even the audience had forgotten how to breathe.
As the cloud of dust slowly began to disperse...
Leo emerged.
He was standing.
Still standing.
But his face...
Was wounded.
The dagger had been aimed directly at the center of his face.
Yet at the very last moment, Leo had managed to evade the strike.
Not completely.
The blade had passed dangerously close to his face and cut across his cheek.
A clear wound extended along the side of his face.
Thin streams of blood slowly trickled from it.
Leo remained motionless for several moments.
As though he had not yet fully processed what had happened.
Then—
He moved.
In an instant, several barriers materialized around his body.
One.
Two.
Then more.
Layer after layer formed around him in rapid succession.
And without wasting even a second, Leo unleashed a high Second Circle Wind spell.
BOOOOOOM!
A violent surge of wind erupted from his body.
A massive pressure wave swept across the arena.
The sheer force of it was impossible for Dion to withstand.
His body was violently hurled toward the opposite end of the battlefield.
He was driven backward through the air before finally crashing to a stop near the edge of the arena.
Leo, meanwhile...
Remained standing exactly where he was.
But this time, he was no longer calm.
He stared at his hand for a moment.
Then slowly raised it toward his face.
His fingers touched the blood flowing from his cheek.
He looked down at the crimson stain upon his fingertips.
Then slowly...
He clenched his hand.
Hard.
A completely different expression appeared upon his face.
He spoke quietly.
"How arrogant of me..."
Then he raised his eyes toward Dion.
His mind began reconstructing everything that had just happened.
So...
It seems Path Vision doesn't work on attacks that carry neither mana nor aura.
That was the only logical conclusion.
The dagger had contained no obvious flow of magical energy.
Nor had it been coated in aura that the ability could track.
And because of that...
Leo had never seen its trajectory.
He closed his eyes.
For several moments, he remained silent.
Then he began reprimanding himself internally.
Relying on an ability I don't fully understand...
Putting my trust in it without knowing its limitations...
And, on top of that, allowing someone far below me in both level and experience to actually injure me...
His thoughts stopped for a moment.
Then his inner voice became stern.
There's only one way to describe this.
Arrogance.
The injury itself was not serious.
A cut on his cheek meant virtually nothing to him.
But the wound was not the problem.
The mistake was.
He had assumed that his ability would reveal everything.
He had placed far more trust in it than he should have.
And that alone had been enough to expose him to danger.
Then...
Leo opened his eyes.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
It lasted for only a moment.
Yet there was something different about it.
He let out a quiet chuckle.
Then spoke softly.
"When did I become like this?"
The question was not directed at Dion.
It was directed at himself.
At the person he had begun to become.
At the version of himself that had grown dependent on a power he did not yet fully understand.
Then...
Leo turned completely toward Dion.
His gaze changed.
The indifference disappeared.
So did the feeling that he had been treating this battle as nothing more than a simple test.
His voice remained calm, but this time...
It carried a completely different weight.
"Now I'm awake."
He paused.
Then continued,
"And I'll take you seriously."
On the opposite side of the arena...
Dion raised his head.
The moment he heard those words, a smile appeared on his face.
It was not a mocking smile.
It was excitement.
The kind of smile belonging to someone who had finally received exactly what he had been waiting for since the beginning of the battle.
Dion tightened his grip around his sword.
Then said,
"Good."
His smile widened slightly.
"Don't be as troublesome as you were a moment ago."