CHAPTER 208: CHAPTER 208- FURY

Without waiting for an answer, Leo lunged forward, his hand clamping around Glain’s throat with terrifying strength. The sound of the old man’s strangled gasp filled the battlefield as Leo lifted him effortlessly off the ground. Glain’s legs kicked weakly, his staff slipping from his grasp, the light within it dimming.

"Pathetic," Leo hissed, his grip tightening. Frost began creeping along his arm, freezing the very air around them. "You talk about courage, but look at you now, nothing but a dying old man choking on his pride."

Glain’s face turned pale, his hands clawing at Leo’s wrist in vain. His body trembled, the once-vibrant aura of the druid flickering like a dying ember.

Not far away, Rafael dragged himself through the rubble, his body shaking uncontrollably. His vision blurred with tears and blood, but still, he crawled one arm after another, toward them.

"P–Please..." he gasped, his voice strangled. "Don’t... kill him... I beg you..."

Leo glanced down at him, his lips curling into a smile that was almost amused.

"Oh? You can still move? That’s admirable."

Rafael forced himself up on his elbows, eyes desperate, chest heaving. "He... he doesn’t deserve this—"

"Deserve?" Leo interrupted with a low chuckle, eyes glowing faintly blue. "You think mercy exists in the eyes of gods?"

He turned back to Glain, tightening his hold. The old man’s breath hitched, his vision began to blur, his heartbeat slowing under the crushing force.

"You know," Leo murmured, his tone almost conversational, "I always thought you were a coward, Glain. Too scared to face the Sky Whale and too afraid to fight beside your people."

Then his smile twisted into something darker. "But I see now—I was wrong. You weren’t afraid... you knew I’d turn on him eventually, didn’t you? Saving your strength, waiting to strike."

Glain’s eyes widened faintly, the truth in Leo’s words hitting harder than the pain.

Leo leaned closer, his cold breath brushing against Glain’s ear. "But it doesn’t matter. You failed. You waited too long... and now, even your plan means nothing."

Rafael’s voice cracked through the air, hoarse and broken. "Stop—please, stop!"

Leo didn’t even look at him. His gaze stayed locked on Glain’s fading eyes.

"Your plan and your faith, it all ends here," he whispered. "Because even gods can get bored of mortals pretending to matter."

Then he lifted Glain higher, his grip like iron, and the air filled with the faint sound of bones creaking under divine strength.

Before Leo could finish crushing Glain’s throat, a sharp whistle cut through the air— thwip! A blade of light shot past, grazing Leo’s cheek and slicing a few strands of his hair. He turned his head slightly, eyes narrowing.

"Hmm?"

Another projectile came flying, this time faster, heavier. Leo raised his arm and deflected it with ease, sparks flashing as metal met divine aura. But before he could even mock the attempt, a second impact struck him square in the ribs, hard enough to stagger him a few steps back.

"What—?"

He growled, regaining balance, but by the time he did, Glain was no longer in his grasp. The old man lay several meters away, cradled safely in a shadowy tendril that shimmered with faint lightning.

Leo’s eyes widened, then narrowed again in irritation. "Oh, I see..."

He turned toward the direction of the attack and there he was.

Julian stood amidst the chaos, his aura flickering like a storm barely contained. His clothes were torn, blood still staining his lips, but his stance was steady, his expression sharp. The air around him seemed to tremble, each breath radiating restrained fury.

Leo tilted his head, lips curling into a cruel smile. "So you’re still alive. I must’ve gone too easy on you."

Julian’s shadow rippled beneath his feet, dark tendrils coiling like living things. His deep blue eyes glowed faintly, their hue darker than before, cold and unwavering.

"You made one mistake," Julian said, his voice calm but heavy with venom. "You thought I’d stay down."

Leo chuckled, amused. "You think you can threaten me now, in that pathetic state?"

Julian’s aura flared suddenly, lightning and darkness entwining like twin storms, the ground beneath them cracking from the pressure. His hair lifted slightly from the force, and his gaze cut through the divine mist like a blade.

"No," Julian said, his tone dropping into something almost feral.

"I’m not threatening you."

He took a slow step forward, each movement steady and deliberate as his power rose higher.

"I’m promising you—"

The shadows behind him shifted, forming countless edges and fangs of black light.

"—I’ll make you regret underestimating me."

Leo threw his head back and laughed, the sound booming across the shattered battlefield like thunder.

"Ahahahaha! You still think you can fight me? Be smart and surrender now. Maybe I’ll grant you a death without pain."

Julian’s eyes narrowed, a cold spark flashing in the storm of his aura.

"Seems like your delusion’s gotten worse," he said, his tone sharp as glass. "Let me cure that for you."

Lightning burst beneath his feet. The ground exploded as Julian shot forward, his body a streak of blue and black energy. In an instant, his shadow split and spread like liquid night, forming jagged arms that lashed toward Leo from every direction.

Leo smirked and countered, summoning icy armor that shimmered like crystal scales. He met Julian’s first strike head-on, his claw clashing with Julian’s electrified blade.

BOOM!—sending ripples of energy that cracked the ground.

Julian didn’t stop. His pupils glowed a fierce indigo as he muttered, "[Inventory]."

A burst of blue light erupted behind him.

Hundreds of spectral daggers materialized in a spiral, each one humming with lightning and dark energy. With a flick of his hand, Julian twisted gravity itself, and the blades orbited him like a storm of death.

"Let’s see you block this."

The daggers launched forward, raining down from all angles, bending midair as Julian manipulated their trajectory through micro-pulses of gravity. Each one struck like a thunderclap, forcing Leo to weave between them with inhuman speed.

Leo’s grin widened. "Cute trick!"

He raised his hand, and waves of water and ice formed shields that caught several blades mid-flight. The impact shattered them, but each explosion froze the moisture in the air, turning the field into a glittering storm of frost and lightning.

Julian moved within the chaos, teleporting short distances through his shadow and reappearing behind Leo, slashing with a blade coated in pure voltage. Leo twisted, catching the strike with his armored forearm—CRACK! Sparks flew.

Their movements blurred, strikes overlapping faster than the eye could follow, Julian’s daggers spinning in precise gravitational arcs, Leo’s elemental mastery freezing and redirecting the assaults.

Julian ducked beneath an icy blade and snapped his fingers—

[Gravity Pulse]!

The battlefield collapsed inward, pulling debris, blades, and even water spheres toward the center where Leo stood. But Leo growled and burst outward with divine energy, shattering the pull in a blinding surge of blue light.

"Impressive," Leo said, wiping frost from his shoulder. "But you’ll have to do better than parlor tricks."

Julian smirked faintly, his voice low, controlled, and dangerous.

"Oh, don’t worry," he said as lightning danced across his knuckles. "I haven’t even started showing you how gods fall."