Leon charged forward this time without trying to do anything fancy. Teleport consumed too much mana even to cover short distances, so he couldn't use that frequently. The best option was to force the shadowy bastard to do that. When Leon was twenty meters away from the bastard, his body turned into a sphere of light, and at the exact same moment, Leon activated Light-Speed Movement.

Congratulations! The skill Light-Speed Movement has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Light-Speed Movement has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Light-Speed Movement has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.



Leon didn't try to use that skill before, but the effects were devastating. The shadowy figure didn't have time to dodge. Not even Leon knows what happened. He just activated the spell. The next moment, he saw that his body and the shadowy figure had hit against something… Leon didn't find anything, except a crack in the dimension that Ilyana quickly repaired.

As expected, light and darkness canceled each other. So, Leon and that bastard could hit each other while their bodies were covered with those elements. However, Leon received a shock when he felt his mana dropping at an astounding speed. The shadowy figure was smirking, despite the fact that such an impact made him lose a lot of mana.

Leon tried to counter that effect by using Mana Absorption since that guy was holding his left arm, but even though Leon tried to increase the power of the skill… he lost in terms of raw magic power.

"Shit… this bastard has much more intelligence than me!"

That was the only explanation, and Leon didn't need any other. He couldn't teleport since he would bring with him anything that was touching him, so Leon just activated Reflect Armor to repel the bastard, and that worked. It cost a lot of mana, but Reflect Armor put the shadowy bastard away from Leon.

"You learned a lot of interesting tricks…" The shadowy figure said. "Back then, you only had some elemental affinities, but your power and skill weren't anything great… Is that woman your master? She is stronger than you, but I can't tell how much…"

"… Talk to your heart's content because you will die today," Leon glared viciously.

"Don't be like that… You survived thus far, thanks to me," The shadowy bastard shrugged. "Can you imagine the past you surviving without that time inside that snake? You tried to kill a being which you couldn't even understand its power. People like us don't receive second chances often, so you should treasure your life more."

Leon bit his lips in annoyance… in the end, he should have focused on mastering the spells that he already had instead of learning new ones. A battle between high-level mages was far more complicated than he thought… but at least Leon knew that shadowy figure main skills were of the dark attribute. Light magic worked against that. So, without any hesitation, Leon pointed both hands toward that asshole and activated True Damage in a fast sequence. Although mana was the lifeline of mages, he still could stop one without even decreasing their mana a little bit.

Congratulations! The skill True Damage has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill True Damage has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill True Damage has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.



The shadowy figure immediately understood what Leon was plotting… his stamina was being targeted. At the same time, he countered that spell. That being said, Leon could use that skill and attack both the health, mana, and stamina of the target, but could the target use three spells simultaneously and at the same speed to counter those? The answer was no.

The shadowy bastard finally lost the smile on his face, he opened his arms, and the Dark Aura started to expand. The dimension began to tremble, and Leon immediately understood that wasn't good… that son of a bitch already discovered a way to escape from there.

Leon used Spell Breaker, and immediately, eighty percent of his mana was consumed to stop the shadowy figure. That left him speechless, and Leon felt unprotected with so few mana.

"Thank goodness I always keep Mind Armor active… If he had noticed that I used so much mana…"

Leon couldn't use Appraisal or Eyes of the Truth to see the shadowy figure status. It looked like the bastard had an even better version of Mind Armor. Regardless, even though they couldn't see the numerical value, they could feel each other's power and overall energy just by looking and being next to each other. The shadowy figure had three times more mana and two times more intelligence… that was a terrible match-up, but Leon still had a chance. If it were impossible, Ilyana wouldn't have let him stay in that dimension for long.

"All right, Leon. Calm down,… the time here passes much slower than in the real world. No need to worry, just focusing on using that bastard for as long as you can."

Leon thought that the shadowy figure would attack him with another even more powerful spell, but the bastard was just looking at Leon in total silence. Suddenly, that guy pointed to his left side, and then a dark smoke appeared out of nowhere. Leon frowned, but he didn't feel any danger to his life. Weirdly enough, the smoke didn't even more… it was getting smaller and denser until it took a human-like shape.

"She was another fool who tried to fight me…" The shadowy figure said. "Although she was stronger than you, she didn't pose much of a threat. However, her potential was impressive. So, I made her join my ranks…"

"No…" Leon recognized that figure, and his blood begun to run cold.

She had the eyes and the body of a zombie, but Leon recognized that person stature, hairstyle, and mana crystal in the forehead… it was Darya.