Unlike Retos's muscular and burly physique, Leon was lean and sturdy. His movements were far more steady, making him resemble an unsheathed blade with its sharpness restrained.
Beneath his standard chainmail set, he wasn't wielding a bone sword, but bone axes—the most basic pair of Dual Blades.
Seeing this, whispers immediately broke out in the stands.
"Dual Blades?!"
"I remember, didn't he use a Sword and Shield?"
"It's rare to see Dual Blades in the Arena. After all, Demon Mode is limited, and you can't use Dash Juice..."
The Commander narrowed his eyes, while the Sword Master beside him wore a mysterious smile of anticipation.
On the right side of the stands, two small furry figures leaned over the railing, peeking out curiously.
Dumpling widened his round eyes and looked into the field anxiously, wondering, "Did the rookie change weapons, meow?"
Coco was munching on fruit, mumbling indistinctly, "Can he win with Dual Blades, meow?"
Flora pressed down on Dumpling's restless head to calm him, saying softly, "Don't underestimate your master. He never does anything without a reason."
As she spoke, her hand gripped the amulet made from an unknown monster's tooth around her neck, her expression flickering with an unnoticeable mix of tension and hope.
The arena's iron gate opened.
A new Anjanath had been led into the field.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
With every step the Anjanath took, the entire ground trembled slightly.
Leon remained expressionless as he slowly drew his Dual Blades. He crouched slightly, crossing the blades before his chest as his body vibrated with energy.
The next moment.
Demon Mode—Activate!
In an instant, Leon's muscles tensed and his blood seemed to boil as he erupted with a ferocious aura.
A faint red mist swirled around his body, and his movements became even swifter, like a hunting wolf.
Demon Mode was a unique Dual Blades technique that boosted damage and speed. In this state, a hunter wouldn't flinch when hit, Blade Dance attacks wouldn't bounce off hard hides, and evasion distance increased.
"ROAR!!!"
The Anjanath roared to the heavens and charged forward!
Facing the direct, crushing pressure, Leon didn't retreat an inch. Instead, he lunged forward to meet it.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
With a Spinning Slash, he struck the Anjanath's right leg while simultaneously sliding to its side.
Demon Side Slash—Demon Two-Step Slash—Demon Six-Fold Slash—Blade Dance!
The Dual Blades in Leon's hands became a blur, hacking frantically at the Anjanath's right leg and the base of its tail.
He could feel energy accumulating within him with every hit, making his Demon Mode even more frenzied.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The blades scraped against the hard hide, throwing sparks, but under the high-speed assault, the Anjanath's defense soon broke, revealing crimson flesh.
Enraged, the Anjanath swung its tail in a wide sweep!
Leon reacted instantly, shifting his weight to narrowly dodge the sweep and sliding to the monster's left side.
Staying low, he crossed his blades for a horizontal cut—another Spinning Slash that drew a spray of blood.
In Demon Mode, a hunter could move and attack through Spinning Slashes.
This not only greatly increased mobility but also maintained the offensive pressure.
Roar!
The Anjanath let out a pained roar, the sails on its back snapping open as it unleashed a fan-shaped burst of flame from its mouth.
In a flash, Leon pulled back, then fired his Clutch Claw to latch onto the Anjanath's head. Closing the distance again, his bone axes hacked wildly at its forelimbs and shoulders.
The Anjanath thrashed its body, trying to throw Leon off.
However, Leon had already leaped, kicking off the Anjanath's head to propel himself!
—Mid-air Spinning Blade Dance.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
In mid-air, Leon's twin blades crossed in rapid succession, like a chainsaw heading straight for the Anjanath's tail.
Landing behind the monster, he followed up with a continuous barrage of strikes.
—Demon Blade Dance!
The Dual Blades struck like a frantic rainstorm, every cut shredding the Anjanath's tail.
With a crisp crack, the sturdy tail was severed, and the Anjanath collapsed to the ground once more.
The audience erupted in deafening cheers!
"He's too fast!"
"What the hell..."
"A tail sever in less than two minutes?"
Seeing this, Retos couldn't help but frown.
He stared at the figure moving like lightning, a hint of inexplicable pressure rising in his heart.
After the continuous slashes, Leon's stamina began to drop rapidly, and his breathing grew heavy.
He knew Demon Mode was a high-stakes style; if his rhythm was broken, it would be hard to regain the upper hand.
'I have to finish this in one go! Attribute point!'
[CONSTITUTION +1, CURRENT STRENGTH: 17]
[CURRENT UNALLOCATED ATTRIBUTE POINTS: 9]
A cold light flashed in Leon's eyes. He circled to the Anjanath's head, maintaining Demon Mode as his blades glowed with a bloody light.
Blade Dance!
Leon's hands blurred as he swung his blades, the edges cutting so fast they were nearly invisible, leaving only bursts of blood blooming on the Anjanath's head.
Seeing this, several high-ranking officials from Schrade looked at each other in disbelief.
"The... Red Star?"
"Impossible! That's just a legend..."
The Dual Blade users in the stands also noticed the anomaly. They couldn't understand how Leon could maintain Demon Mode for so long.
While Demon Mode significantly boosts damage and speed, it consumes stamina heavily and usually can't be sustained. Yet, Leon had not deactivated it once.
Crack!!
Finally, a sharp sound echoed.
The Anjanath's hard nasal bone was forcibly severed!
Leon didn't hesitate for a second. He lunged forward, raising his bone axes with total focus!
As the Anjanath struggled to lift its head, Leon poured all his strength into the bone axes and let out a roar.
"Ha!"
The two bone axes, carrying a murderous aura, slammed down from above the Anjanath's head!
The blades sank deep into the skull, and the violent impact pinned the entire monster to the ground.
After a few twitches, the Anjanath completely lost its life.
Simultaneously, text popped up before Leon's eyes.
[DING! TALENT TRIGGERED—LONER]
[KILLED: ANJANATH]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 800]
[LEVEL: LV.5 (6000/8500)]
[ADDITIONAL MATERIALS OBTAINED: FLAME SAC X2, ANJANATH TAIL X2, ANJANATH GEMS X2, ANJANATH NOSEBONE X4, ANJANATH SCALE X6, ANJANATH FANG X6, ANJANATH PELT X6]
[DING! MAIN QUEST TRIGGERED: ???]
'A main quest?'
Leon was stunned. He didn't know whether to be happy or annoyed; the system finally gave a quest, but it seemed as if there was no quest at all.
—A half-second of silence.
Then, the entire arena erupted into deafening shouts and screams!
"So fast!!"
"I guess Leon won?"
"Insane! That speed, that burst... it's not human! Who's the real monster here?"
The Commander stood up, raised an eyebrow, and announced loudly, "Leon's time: four minutes and fifty-three seconds!"
A full thirty-five seconds faster than Retos!
Flora clapped excitedly, her eyes filled with shock.
Leon sheathed his axes and looked up, his gaze burning as he stared at Retos, whose face was pale as he clenched his fists tightly.
As the Commander finished announcing the time, even more discussion drowned out the arena.
"Dual Blades... under five minutes..."
"Impossible... even with potions, Demon Mode shouldn't last that long. How did he do it?"
Several high-ranking officials from Schrade could no longer sit still. They didn't care about the win or loss anymore; they only wanted to know if Leon was the figure from the ancient legends—
The Red Star.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+40 chapters) patre0n.c0m/Royal_ink]