“Wait, wait, wait!”
Leon hurriedly raised his hand, stopping the battle-hungry Alicia in her tracks.
A chill ran from his spine to his brain, nearly making its way down to his trousers.
“Alicia, this is a spar, not a life-and-death struggle. You really don’t need to pull out the 【Blades of Hunger】,” Leon shouted, waving his hand at her.
He couldn't be blamed for such a sharp reaction; after all, his experience in Alicia’s dream was still fresh in his mind.
The feeling of being swallowed by 【Hunger】 was not something Leon ever wanted to experience again.
Even the peak Gold-rank Mad Shark King, after being stabbed by Alicia’s Blades of Hunger, had left behind a heart-wrenching cry of “Hungry” before teleporting away.
Leon had no desire to follow in the Mad Shark King’s footsteps.
And besides...
Leon glanced at the light flickering on his interface. Just looking at the 【Blades of Hunger】 caused the words “The Will of the Gondor Empire EXP +5” to appear.
If he actually got stabbed, Leon estimated that the +5 would probably turn into +30 or more.
The problem was whether he would even have the chance to check his interface at that point...
“Oh... I can’t use the Blades of Hunger...”
Hearing this, a look of disappointment flashed across Alicia’s face.
She had wanted to show Leon her full strength after breaking through to the Silver rank, to tell him:
Now that I’ve reached Silver rank, I can be a proper guard and protect you. You don’t have to protect me anymore.
However, Leon’s single sentence had forbidden her from using her strongest method...
“Does this girl really want to spar with me using the 【Blades of Hunger】?”
Seeing the disappointment on Alicia’s face, Leon broke into a cold sweat again.
After setting some ground rules, Leon stood at one end of the backyard while Alicia stood at the other, both taking their combat stances.
“3, 2, 1... Begin!”
As Leon’s voice fell, he raised his hand, and mental power poured into his priest’s scepter like a tide.
Opposite him, Alicia moved the very instant the word “begin” left his lips.
Her figure flickered, and within a single breath, she transformed into a shadow, vanishing from Leon’s field of vision.
Leon knew this was a move Alicia had developed after reaching Silver rank, combining the 【Presence Concealment】 technique with the 【Shadow Meld】 technique.
Thus, the moment he raised his scepter, he didn’t summon the Radiance Longbow. Instead, he first manifested a Light Prayer Orb.
The Light Prayer Orb established a Radiance Force Field. Within this field, everything was under Leon’s control, and he immediately sensed Alicia rapidly closing in on him.
In the next instant, Leon used his mental power again, condensing a Radiance Longbow behind him.
This Radiance Longbow was completely different after its upgrade.
It had evolved from a hand-held longbow into a massive, three-meter-long giant bow that was translucent and silver throughout.
Behind the bowstring, a pair of translucent giant hands emerged, with deep blue lightning swirling within.
One Hand of Thunder held the bow steady while the other lightly pinched the string.
The moment the Hand of Thunder touched the string, a massive Hammer of Sacred Light condensed and appeared.
The hammerhead rested on the bow like an arrowhead, while the handle was nocked into the string like the tail of an arrow.
The body of the hammer was also faintly enveloped in a translucent Sacred Light Crystal Shield.
Lightning crackled across the hammerhead.
As the Hammer of Sacred Light took form, the thunderous hand drew the bow to its full extent. Driven by Leon’s will, it fired toward the approaching Alicia!
Boom!
The massive Hammer of Sacred Light tore through the air with a sonic boom, flying forward with the momentum of a heavy truck.
Sensing the power of this sacred hammer, Alicia immediately stopped her advance and thrust her hands into the ground.
【Shadow Bulwark】
In the next instant, a Shadow Bulwark, a good half-meter thick, formed in front of Alicia.
Alicia possessed incredible combat instincts. If she were facing any other attack, this Shadow Bulwark would have been a perfect defense.
But Leon’s strike possessed an armor-piercing effect!
The moment it touched the Shadow Bulwark, the small crystal shield on the Hammer of Sacred Light rapidly transformed, turning into a massive Sacred Light Spike!
Relying on its massive kinetic energy and tapered shape, the Sacred Light Spike tore through the Shadow Bulwark like scissors through rice paper, instantly ripping a large hole in it!
Even with Alicia’s exceptional combat instincts, she never expected the sacred hammer to have armor-piercing capabilities!
In her desperation, Alicia twisted her body violently. Using the moment the Shadow Bulwark stalled the Hammer of Sacred Light, she narrowly avoided a direct hit from the hammerhead.
However, as the Hammer of Sacred Light slammed heavily into the ground, the hammer face released a lightning shockwave. It swept over her body, causing her movements to stiffen.
During this brief moment of paralysis, a Hand of Thunder suddenly manifested behind the handle of the seemingly exhausted Hammer of Sacred Light. It grabbed the handle and swung the hammer down at Alicia once more.
Alicia pushed her combat instincts to the limit. As she leaped backward, she condensed another Shadow Bulwark in front of her, managing to block this follow-up second strike.
However.
After the second strike came a third!
The Hand of Thunder gripped the Hammer of Sacred Light like a mad dog, relentlessly smashing it down at Alicia, one strike after another.
At the same time, a new Hammer of Sacred Light condensed on the Radiance Longbow behind Leon.
The Hand of Thunder drew the bow into a full moon, and the Hammer of Sacred Light shot out like an arrow from a string, booming toward Alicia as she dodged the first hammer.
The two hammers formed a pincer attack, trapping Alicia in the middle!
Alicia was able to dodge clumsily at first, until a third and fourth sacred hammer joined the fray...
By the time the sixth sacred hammer entered the battlefield, Alicia’s head was covered in bumps from being hit.
She ran while holding her head, shouting loudly:
“Stop! No... more! No... more!”
Hearing this, Leon stopped casting the Divine Art from the Radiance Longbow.
He looked at Alicia, who was cowering with her head tucked in. The corners of his mouth were about to curl up, but he quickly suppressed it under the direct glare she sent his way.
“You... cheated!”
Alicia held her head with both hands, shouting at Leon in a huff.
He didn't let her use her 【Blades of Hunger】, yet he used such a powerful Divine Art himself!
That Hammer of Sacred Light could not only be shot like an arrow, but it also had armor-piercing effects!
And after being shot, it could be picked up by a suddenly appearing Hand of Thunder to chase her down!
As if being chased wasn't enough, it kept releasing that lightning shockwave, constantly electrocuting her!
Alicia looked at her pink hair, which was frizzed and curled by the electricity, and remembered being chased and beaten until her head was full of bumps. She immediately began to denounce Leon:
“Cheater! You... cheater!”
“You didn’t... let me use... my hunger... knife! But you... used... a hammer!”
“It’s... not fair! It’s not fair!”
“I want... a rematch!”
However, her denunciation, combined with the bumps on her head and her cheeks puffed out like a pufferfish, held absolutely no intimidation factor.
Nevertheless, Leon didn't dare to laugh, fearing that Alicia might pounce on him and bite him.
He lit another Light Prayer Orb, using the Healing Art to treat the bumps on Alicia’s head.
Then, he pulled a lollipop from his robe, tore off the wrapper, and stuffed it into Alicia’s pouting mouth, saying comfortingly:
“Alright, alright, I know I was wrong. I shouldn’t have used the linked Radiance Longbow to spar with you...”
Hearing Leon’s apology, combined with the bribe he stuffed into her mouth, Alicia’s anger finally began to subside.
Meanwhile, Leon massaged Alicia’s head while maintaining the Light Prayer Orb, sighing with emotion:
“An armor-piercing ranged attack, a paralyzing melee attack, and the ability to automatically chase and hammer the enemy... The way 【Empowering Linkage】 turns quantity into a qualitative change is just too strong!”
Now, some might ask: Leon, Leon, your Radiance Longbow is indeed strong, but it requires too much skill to operate. Do you have any simpler and more powerful Divine Arts to recommend?
Leon’s response would be:
“Yes, brothers, I do!”
“There are actually three other Divine Arts as powerful as the Radiance Longbow: 【Radiance Perception】, 【Hammer of Sacred Light】, and 【Healing Art】!”
That’s right. Thanks to Leon’s unremitting efforts, these three Divine Arts were finally nearing a level up as well!
Rate on N.U.
