Eleanor witnessed everything.
She infiltrated the Goblin Den from the backdoor she found, she traced a trail of blood and goblin corpses to the inner sanctum of the den and as she wanted to investigate, the cave started crumbling. It was surely the doing of a very impulsive and infuriated Prince she splendidly baited into acting rashly… maybe too rashly.
No matter, the presence of a few humanoids into her range of detection intrigued her as she wanted to find this interesting Goblin which perfectly made it a mess for the little Prince outside. Still, those humanoids were nothing but the remnants of the goblins and she just killed them with a wave of her hand. Still, she found something visible among the corpses.
A Mask, an interestingly ugly mask of a goblin with weird engravings… they felt rather Alien.
Soon after, a figure appeared soon after and was looming around the goblin corpses which made Eleanor decide to ambush it. A couple of attacks were exchanged and SURPRISE! It is her long-lost son-in-law.
The story progressed as Eleanor and Leon had their showdown before Eleanor got surprised to see Leon actually has the ability to dispel her Barrier. Something that is rather surprising since no one has the ability to do so unless they are either higher in Level, higher in Talent, or have the ability to manipulate Time and Space as she can.
Of course Leon was neither of that as far as she was aware… Or was he?
She may have had more time to analyze him in a better place but all she could do now is to realize one thing. He was in a completely bad place.
She could feel it.
He called her "Betrayer!".
If what Vadim and Erielle said was right, Leon doesn't remember much.
But he remembered that his father hurt his mother, he remembered his grudge with Prince Edward… and he remembered that day when he was being taken away and she didn't look at or defend him.
Then when he broke her spell and ran away, he said something… he said "Don't wake up the kid."
His voice changed, his aura changed, his behavior changed. Eleanor witnessed two different Leons at the same time that moment. One that is filled with despair and driven by hate and agony, he whose eyes were filled with darkness as if he is possessed by the demons; and the other who has clear eyes and cold voice, he whose identity is the opposite of Leon.
The identity of Leon, huh? She spent a complete month since the beginning of the year trying to approach Leon in the Academy. She was the Headmistress and he was a student, she even had her people all around the Academy, just how hard could that be?
It was extremely difficult. That's the answer.
Leon had a busy schedule during the Academy's first month. Whenever she tried to invite him or even walk to him, one of four people would always appear. Prince Edward who was unfriendly with Leon, Nora Frye who was his studying partner and alleged friend, or Dean and Diana Dark who are his half-siblings and the ones that did almost everything to prevent Eleanor from seeing him.
What did they do to him? That's a question Eleanor kept asking the moment Leon escaped from her in the cave.
Finally, she put her thoughts together and decided to pursue Leon and learn about the truth now or never.
But her intentions were completely crushed when she tried to catch Leon before being caught by the group of students outside the cave. What she saw was one person, who was said to be lacking in all aspects of talent, fully dominating everyone and everything that stood in his way.
He wasn't fighting like a valiant warrior but rather like a group of attackers and defenders.
He knew all the basics of both combat and strategy then applied every trick in the book to complete perfection.
This is what is called Ability and Battle Experience.
A 16 years old young man with battle experience which can flip the table over a group of knights and crush the top talents of the kingdom from his age group into full submission. Eleanor was now in awe rather than fear or worry.
She actually let Leon continue what he was doing and stepped back a few steps in the cave to not be seen.
Then one surprise after the other happened.
Nora Frye displayed an affinity to Light Magic which wasn't in her official papers, Leon overwhelmed Edward in a Magic Duel, and finally, Edward completely lost and summoned the special bodyguards from the Royal Family.
In her worry, Eleanor tried to talk Leon into retreating to the cave as soon as he could through [Telepathy] but she was completely ignored and those Elite Knight and Wizard arrived. Bad news for Leon.
"Master, this guy… he's a sinner from the Temple of Darkness." Edward shouted, "He attacked us and killed many knights."
"You little shit!" Reflexively, that wasn't Leon but rather Eleanor.
Framing Leon to be some sort of a heretic was low even for a prince. It is true that the practice of the Shadow Magic is attributed to the members of some outlawed Factions thus it became shunned and got to he called the Darkness Magic as its most famous spell, [Darkness], is basically a bane to both Fighters and Mages.
The existence of a Dark Mage is something that bothers the country and the temple thus it would be more advantageous to remove such existence.
Eleanor was surely going to interfere but as she was about to, she saw Leon completely getting to a state of focus that almost felt like the opposite of him going berserk just a while ago. He's ready to fight even though his opponents are of a much higher level.
"You there…" One of the two masters that appeared approached Leon who retreated a few steps, "By the order of the Crown, you are to surrender and be led to the Crowns Barracks. Any form of resistance is…"
"I am resisting." Leon replied, "It is getting annoying so let's get this over with before the morning."
The two bodyguards looked at each other then nodded.
"As you wish." The Knight spoke.
Leon took some distance back and read the status of the two new opponents. The male knight was a Lv.41 Cavalier and the female mage was a Lv.33 Mage.
The Knight was a blonde man who carried the exact same confident smile Edward usually carries. The only difference is that this new prick is an adult wearing some sort of Hussar formal suit and carrying a saber.
Leon scanned the Knight well as he switched his classes, weapons, and conjured his Mana close to the shadows.
The other person was a caster who has a lot of knowledge about Magic. Still, she is at level 33.
So those two are the Prince's caretakers.
"Dame Fern, that Sinner has…" Edward started yapping all of a sudden but the lady seemed annoyed.
"Yes, yes. We are aware of what we're dealing with." She replied displaying some short temper before turning to the Knight, "That guy seems to be aware of many tactics and tricks. Instead of battling him, we will subjugate him."
"My lady, you surely jest…" The Knight protested.
"I wasn't." She replied.
"How can you suggest refusing an honorable fight for a cowardly subjugation tactic." He shouted.
"Thank the Spirits I am in charge here." She calmly replied.
"You two should go get a room." Leon interfered.
The two narrowed their eyes as it took them a couple of seconds to realize that the masked villain was vulgarly mocking them. Aside from the Knight who seemed more like a moron, the Mage seemed to be patient and smart.
"You take left, I take right." The Lady Mage said.
"Fine."
As they took position, Leon casually cast Darkness around him and set some plans in motion as he watched his enemies.
They felt like using Magic. The Knight called a Flame around his sword the same way the Prince did and the Lady evoked a wind spell on her hand that kept gradually increasing into a sphere of wind.
"That looks dangerous." Leon smiled but he didn't do anything other than utilizing his Darkness spell closer.
The two caretakers looked at each other and decided to take a go at Leon. Surely the Shadow Magic is infamous but they knew that it is more of a tactical spell rather than an actual attack.
And so they charged in as Leon raised his hand up. They expected a spell and surely Leon was going for that but instead of the normal somatic casting, Leon just…
*SNAP*
… snapped his fingers.
It sounded… weird. Naturally, everyone felt the Mana his movements but the natural laws and the spiritual reactions should start to interact with each other according to the Arcane Theory. Even though Mana originates from Spirits, the Spirits themselves don't break the Laws of Nature.
But there was a massive fluctuation in the Arcane standards as the world knows it in this weird situation. In one sentence, things didn't go exactly as anticipated. Even Eleanor who was watching from hiding felt that something was very wrong.
The Fire on the Knight's saber, the Air above the Mage's staff… they all went off instantly right as Leon snapped his finger.
It can't be the Dispel technique. Their Mana wasn't cut off but rather… their Spiritual Connection was momentarily severed. They felt their own Mana but they didn't feel the World's Mana.
But that wasn't the end.
The disappearance of the Natural Laws of both Fire and Air caused a violent reaction in the area where the laws disappeared. Just like how a bubble of air forms in an area of high water pressure, the water pushes the bubble up and instantly fills its place.
But that wasn't a bubble of air… that was a bubble of no air.
Vacuum!
A spell that can't be explained with the common sense of this world, Leon calls it "Vacuum Blast".
It is the very same spell he used to bring down the cave's entrance.
The effect was splendid in every sense of the word. Leon spread his Mana through the Air without reshaping it into a spell. Just as he got control of enough air around himself and his enemies, he stored that air in his Storage with ease as its mass wasn't anything to be mentioned. The air that disappeared completely threw off the Knight, the Mage, and the Prince off balance and cut off their Magic. As the surrounding air tried to compensate for the vacuum, a ridiculous force brought everything together and caused an implosion, the opposite of an explosion.
They all saw that, no one understood it except for Eleanor who could think of how it was done… only in theory.
Leon was also in the middle of this implosion but he protected himself from the start by a Barrier that only those with Space-Time Magic could detect. A surprise that left Eleanor bewildered.
Leon has shown almost all the Magic Elements so far save for Water Magic. Hexa-Elemental Mage? That's almost something out of the legends of the Age of Heroes.
Still, the situation around Leon didn't settle down. This final move didn't only bring down the two elites and the Prince but it caused an uproar among the students and the knights who were still around.
Those who could stand up carried those who couldn't and started to clear the area. Some were extremely desperate as they just ran in the direction of the camp without looking back.
Meanwhile, the Knight and the Mage managed to regain their broken balance, immediately stand up, and protect the Prince who fell on his face. Unlike the Knight, however, the Mage lady was coughing violently and unable to focus but still struggled to be in support of the Prince.
At that moment, Leon took out his other hand which was hidden behind his back all the time and with a sadistic smile that could be felt through his mask, he pointed what it held towards Edward.
Obviously a loaded crossbow.
"Your Highness, watch out!"
Edward was still knocked out in the dirt so the Knight immediately jumped between him and Leon at the same time when the Mage tried to cast a shield on the Prince. Due to her violent cough, she was just in time to cast the shield and almost felt proud for being faster than their opponent.
But they couldn't be more wrong.
*Click* *Swoosh*
"KYAAA!"
She was the target from the start. Leon confused them by pointing at the exposed Edward but he was meaning to dismantle his enemies rather than finish off the Prince.
While his crossbow bolt was precise, the Mage was still able enough to perceive the trail of the bolt and tried to cast a shield on herself as well but she was late.
The bolt penetrated her right palm which thankfully redirected the bolt away from targeting her neck, head, or any other vitals. Still, it left a nasty wound and the woman started screaming in agony.
"YOU BASTARD!"
The Knight couldn't stand the fact that he was played and his partner was shot. So he aimed his hand and immediately cast a Fire spell.
"Fireball!"
"Darkness! Barrier!"
Leon immediately encompassed his surroundings with Darkness and retreated immediately as he erected a Barrier to black the spell.
The Fireball entered the Darkness cloud and forced its way in with the vigor of the burning flames and the anger of its caster all the way to Leon. Still, once it reached Leon, it was almost one-fifth of its original power and the Barrier took care of it quite easily.
The Darkness spell wasn't indeed a combat spell but it had the ability to act as a smokescreen and to drain Mana from any magic that goes inside it. That is why it is difficult for any detection spell to see what happens inside that Darkness. It wasn't a particular trait of the spell but rather of the Shadow Element in general, the Draining property.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
But that was no way enough for the angry knight. He felt his spell being broken but all in all, it went through. The best way for defense is offense and he was sure that once he stepped in that Darkness and wave his flaming spells, he would completely overwhelm the Darkness caster within.
And so he did.
He used [Combat Magic - Charge] to rush into the cloud battering anything in his way. Leon seemed to have placed some caltrops in the way but one vigorous step was all it took him to blast those tiny toys away.
He enveloped his sword with flame and waved it once, twice, and thrice with each time his Mana broke the Darkness and at that moment, he saw the cowardly caster hiding within his shadows.
Just one slash and he will cleave the coward's head.
"Come here, you weasel!" The Knight aimed his sword sideways and took a large step towards Leon ready for a full diagonal slash.
"Hmph! It's Cobra, asshole."
But reality wasn't ever harsher with the Knight who could almost taste victory.
Leon had another crossbow in his hand aimed at the Knights head. Some would say that a Knight of this caliber will surely encase himself with a protective spell or combat technique.
Sure, sure. The Knight had all that, he was even wearing a blessed necklace of protection.
But what faced him was not any ordinary crossbow, it was an arbalest. And that wasn't just any arbalest, it was the [Good Night] that Leon stole from the camp.
An arbalest with the power of a War Ballista.
"Ciao."
< LEVEL UP >
< LEVEL UP >
< LEVEL UP >
petition for the MC to castrate the prince, do some shadow magic so he cant be healed (or seal maybe?) then spread rumors that the prince is now a princess.
Yes
Outstanding idea friend!
Start a gofundme to bribe the author and we'll contribute!