CHAPTER 220: CHAPTER 220- USELESS

A sharp, unsettling void opened within Leo as the connections to his underlings were suddenly cut. His face contorted with pure vexation. "Useless!" he hissed, the words dripping with contempt.

From the sidelines, Julian watched the storm of anger on Leo’s face. "It would appear your strategy has backfired," he noted, his voice laced with a knowing calm.

Julian vanished and reappeared in flashes of lightning, his blade slicing through the air with divine speed. Leo countered with a roar, freezing the ground beneath them and summoning jagged shards of ice that erupted upward like a field of spears.

Julian deflected them midair, his shadow tendrils reaching out to shatter the frozen spikes before they could impale him. He retaliated by hurling a barrage of gravitational knives, spinning blades of black steel that curved through the air, guided by his control over space itself.

Leo’s eyes gleamed with amusement. "Clever tricks!" he snarled, spreading his arms as a barrier of crystalized frost formed around him. The knives struck the shield and exploded, scattering debris and lightning through the mist, but Leo burst through the smoke, faster than expected.

Julian barely saw the movement. Leo had vanished—then reappeared behind him.

"Too slow."

The words were a whisper before Leo’s claw tore across Julian’s side, slicing through his armor. Blood scattered across the frozen ground. Julian staggered, his breath catching as pain rippled through him.

He grit his teeth, refusing to fall. Lightning flared across his body, burning through the frost that tried to crawl over his wounds. But Leo was relentless.

"You’ve improved," Leo taunted, slamming his palm into the ground. Instantly, pillars of ice surged upward, trapping Julian in a spiraling cage. "Yet you still bleed like the rest of them."

Julian’s eyes glowed a harsh blue-white, his lightning beginning to pulse violently.

"Then I’ll show you what it means to bleed for something worth dying for."

The words crackled like thunder, just before Julian unleashed a surge of electric force, shattering the icy prison in a burst of blinding light.

But the damage was done, his side was torn open, his breathing uneven. Leo stood outside the haze, unfazed, smirking through the steam of their clashing elements.

"You’re running out of tricks, deaw," he said coldly. "And I haven’t even started enjoying this yet."

Julian raised his blade again, his hand trembling slightly, but his gaze was steady, burning with a fury that refused to die.

"Then enjoy it while it lasts."

Leo lunged forward, his speed blurring into a violent streak of light and frost. Julian crossed his blade in defense, sparks bursting as metal clashed against the monstrous strength of Leo’s insectoid arms.

Julian pivoted, countering with a swift upward slash imbued with lightning, blue arcs split the air, forcing Leo back a step. But Leo only grinned. "Fast," he hissed, "but still predictable."

He raised his hand, and the ground around them began to crawl.

From cracks in the frozen soil, swarms of metallic insects erupted, chittering in perfect unison. They swirled around Julian like a living vortex, their wings humming with magnetic resonance. Before Julian could react, the swarm latched onto his armor, clinging to his limbs and locking his movements.

Leo smirked, spreading his arms. "You can’t move, can you?"

The insects’ glow intensified, creating a harmonic vibration that jammed Julian’s energy flow, his lightning flickered erratically.

Julian gritted his teeth, feeling his control slipping.

"Let’s end this charade," Leo said, and his wings expanded wide, gathering energy at their core. A massive beam of divine frostlight formed in front of him, screaming with deadly energy.

He fired.

The explosion tore through the ground, sending shockwaves that shattered nearby cliffs. For a moment, the battlefield was consumed by light—pure, merciless radiance.

When the smoke began to fade, Leo squinted through the haze. "It’s over," he murmured—

—but the air behind him crackled.

A shadow rippled, and Julian burst out from the smoke, cloak torn, lightning blazing violently around his body. He had cut himself free from the swarm, the remnants of shadow tendrils disintegrating into smoke around him.

"Not even close," Julian growled.

Before Leo could turn fully, Julian was already there, appearing behind him with a thunderous flash, his blade charged with lightning and gravitational force. The sword sliced through the air and slashed across Leo’s back, sending sparks and frost scattering like shattered stars.

Leo roared in pain, staggering forward, his armor splitting open with a hiss of steam.

Julian’s eyes glowed fiercely through the fading smoke.

"You’re not the only one who can adapt."

Lightning coiled around his arm again, building for another strike, faster, sharper, deadlier.

Leo let out a furious growl, his patience finally snapping. "Enough of this!" he roared, his voice echoing like thunder across the shattered battlefield. "I’m done playing with you—I’ll end this now!"

His wings flared open, releasing a blinding surge of energy that cracked the air like breaking glass. In an instant, Leo lunged forward, his claws glowing with a mixture of venom and divine frost. The ground split beneath his feet as he dashed toward Julian, every strike carrying the weight of his rage.

Julian stood his ground, eyes narrowed, lightning flaring brighter around him. The moment Leo’s first strike came, Julian’s sword met it head-on, the clash bursting in a shower of sparks and energy.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Each hit was faster than the last, Leo’s claws slashed, jabbed, and tore with monstrous precision, but Julian’s reflexes matched him blow for blow. His blade danced in arcs of lightning, deflecting, parrying, and countering with lethal calm.

Then, Leo overextended—just for a split second.

Julian’s eyes flashed. "Got you."

He twisted his body, letting Leo’s claw graze past his shoulder, and then brought his sword up in a clean, slicing motion toward Leo’s neck. The blade crackled with electric fury as it cut through the air, stopping just short of decapitating him.

A few strands of Leo’s silver hair drifted down.

Leo froze, eyes wide—he hadn’t even seen the strike coming.

Julian exhaled slowly, his sword still raised, its tip glowing inches from Leo’s throat. "You said you’d end this," he murmured coldly, his voice low and steady. "But it seems you’re the one running out of time."

Leo’s expression twisted from shock to anger, his teeth bared in a snarl.

"You’ll regret holding back," he spat, stepping back and summoning another surge of violent energy that cracked the ground beneath them.

Julian lowered his stance again, lightning crawling across his arms. "Bring it on."