CHAPTER 202: CHAPTER 202- DRUID

Rafael’s hand shot out with the last of his strength, fingers clawing at Leo’s wrist. His magnetic field spat and screamed around him like torn wire. "Don’t—don’t hurt him," he choked, voice breaking into ragged sobs. "Please... stop this."

For a heartbeat the battlefield holds its breath. Leo feels the desperate, trembling weight of Rafael’s plea and freezes, then a slow, cruel grin spreads across his face. He gives one short, disgusted laugh.

"You pathetic thing," Leo hisses, and with a sudden, savage motion he shoves Julian’s limp body away. Julian carts across the scorched surface, skidding in a spray of ash and blood. Leo’s palm unfurls and he thrusts both hands forward, a tight sphere of terrible blue energy snaps into being and slams into Julian’s chest. The impact detonates in a shock of light, Julian is thrown high, spinning, and slams down hard, the ground bucking where he lands. He coughs, blood at the corner of his mouth, breath ragged but still alive.

Leo pivots on his heel and stalks toward Rafael, slow and deliberate, as if savoring the moment. He leans in close, eyes alight with that terrible, newfound hunger, and speaks in a voice that echoes across the wrecked sky.

"This is the price," he says, cold and certain, "for standing against a god."

He raises his hand, the aura around him pulses like a heartbeat. Rafael trembles where he kneels, tears carving clean tracks through dust and grime, and the night answers with the distant rumble of other battles shifting an entire war listening to one man declare himself a judge.

Leo gathered his energy once more, the air warping around his arm as light and frost spiraled together into a single devastating sphere. The ground beneath him cracked, trembling under the pressure of his growing power. His eyes glowed with unholy radiance as he pointed his hand toward Rafael who was still on his knees, trembling, his tears mixing with the blood on his face.

"Die, you miserable insect," Leo hissed, his voice a venomous whisper that carried like thunder. The sphere in his palm pulsed, moments away from unleashing annihilation.

Rafael could only stare at the light of his own death, his voice breaking into sobs. His strength was gone, his will barely holding. So this is it... he thought, closing his eyes.

But before the attack could be released, a weathered, scarred hand seized Leo’s wrist firm, immovable.

"Enough," came a calm, gravelly voice. "Stop this madness, young man."

Leo froze, the light in his palm flickering uncertainly. Slowly, he turned his head, his expression darkening. Standing behind him was Glain, his silver hair disheveled, his ancient eyes clear and heavy with sorrow.

The massive sphere of energy began to break apart, dissolving into harmless fragments that scattered into the air like fading embers. Rafael, blinking through tears, saw the familiar broad back of his old man standing between him and death.

"U-Uncle Glain..." he choked out, his voice trembling. "Please... run... you can’t fight him... he’s not the same anymore..."

But Glain didn’t move. His grip on Leo’s wrist tightened, unshaken by the godlike pressure radiating from the younger man.

Leo looked at him in disbelief for a heartbeat, then smirked, his voice dripping with mockery.

"So the old man wants to die first, huh?"

Glain didn’t answer Leo’s taunt. His eyes swept across the battlefield, the scorched ground, and the bodies of his fallen allies. Joe lay motionless, blood pooling beneath him, his fate uncertain. Not far away, Julian struggled to breathe, his body twitching from the impact he had endured.

A shadow of grief passed over Glain’s face. He exhaled slowly, then spoke without turning his head.

"Don’t worry about me, Rafael. You’ve done enough. Rest for now."

Rafael tried to protest, but his voice broke into a cough. Glain took one firm step forward, the ground beneath his boots blooming with faint green light as his druidic aura awakened.

Leo, wearing a cruel grin, tore his arm free from Glain’s grasp and launched forward, his movements a blur. His fist glowed with divine energy as he swung with enough force to shatter stone but Glain met it head-on, vines of hardened bark wrapping around his forearm as he blocked the strike. The impact echoed like a thunderclap, sending shockwaves through the ground.

Without pause, Leo followed up with a barrage of energy blasts each one cutting through the air like burning lances. Glain countered, summoning roots from the earth that twisted and coiled to absorb the impact. Explosions burst around them, scattering dust and light.

"Still standing, old man?" Leo sneered, his tone sharp with arrogance.

Glain ignored the provocation. His eyes narrowed, and with a gesture, the roots lunged toward Leo like serpents, trying to ensnare him. But Leo’s speed was blinding, he twisted in midair, evading the bindings, and retaliated with a focused beam of energy that tore through the soil toward Glain.

Glain crossed his arms and deflected it, the beam splitting around him in a cascade of sparks. His expression remained calm, though his stance trembled slightly under the pressure.

"You’ve grown stronger," Glain said evenly, lowering his arms. "Far stronger than before."

Then his voice hardened.

"But strength without restraint... is nothing but ruin."

Leo’s grin widened. "Ruin?" he echoed mockingly, energy swirling in his palms. "No, old man. This—" his voice deepened, reverberating with divine resonance— "is evolution."

Before Glain could reply, Leo vanished. A sudden flash of light flared beside him, then came the impact. A blinding explosion erupted as Leo’s fist, wreathed in divine energy, slammed against Glain’s barrier of vines and earthen force. The shield cracked, roots splintering and turning to ash from the heat. Glain was thrown backward, sliding across the shattered ground but regaining his stance mid-skid, his boots carving deep grooves into the dirt.

He thrust his hands forward, and the earth responded. Massive roots burst from the ground like titanic serpents, twisting and converging on Leo. The air trembled with the weight of Glain’s skill.

Leo, unfazed, raised his hand. "Begone."

The single word detonated with divine pressure. Blades of energy shot outward from his palm, slicing through the roots effortlessly. They disintegrated before reaching him, reduced to drifting embers of energy.

Glain clenched his teeth and slammed his staff into the ground. The soil glowed emerald, then erupted. From the cracks emerged colossal trees, their trunks ablaze with magical light. Their branches whipped toward Leo, each one infused with nature’s wrath.

Leo scoffed. "You think your forest can touch me?"

He spun midair, channeling power into a sweeping motion. A ring of frozen energy burst from his body, freezing the entire grove in an instant, turning Glain’s summoned trees into statues of ice. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he shattered them into glittering shards.

The shockwave sent Glain staggering back. Blood trickled from the corner of his lips, but his gaze burned brighter.

"Nature may fall," he muttered, raising both hands, "but it never dies."

Green light surged beneath the battlefield once more. The shattered ice melted, turning into vapor that condensed into hundreds of glowing motes. From them, smaller roots sprouted again, this time crawling up Leo’s legs, tightening, pulsing with life force that tried to drain his divine energy.

Leo snarled, golden cracks spreading across his skin as he fought back the pull. "You dare—!"

"Yes," Glain growled, forcing his palms downward. "I dare, for the sake of those still breathing."

A fierce wind exploded outward. Leo’s body blazed with light, tearing apart the bindings once more, but Glain was already upon him, swinging his staff in a wide arc. The blow connected with Leo’s side, sending a burst of druidic energy through him and flinging him across the field.

Leo crashed into the ground, carving a deep crater. Yet as the dust settled, a laugh echoed out—low, feral, and triumphant.

"You still don’t understand, old man..." Leo rose slowly, his body radiating golden light, wings of pure energy unfurling behind him. "You’re facing a god now."

Glain tightened his grip on his staff, his voice steady.

"Then I’ll remind you what it means to be human."