"Boom!"
In the manor's basement, the usual overcast sky had replaced the ceiling, transforming the area into a domain controlled by Leo.
Leo's magic power blazed like a roaring fire, constantly rising and distorting the surrounding atmosphere.
The immense magic power made Miyamoto Musashi, who had drawn her sword below, look solemn, but the fighting spirit in her eyes intensified rather than diminished.
The next second, Miyamoto Musashi's heart tightened, and she suddenly dodged to the side without any warning.
"Boom!"
At the exact same moment, a flash of light suddenly cut through the air, landing at an astonishing speed where Miyamoto Musashi had stood a second before, shattering the ground.
"This is...?"
Miyamoto Musashi looked at the ground that had suddenly exploded beside her, and a look of gravity began to appear in her eyes.
"Be careful, Miss Musashi."
Leo, in mid-air, saw this scene, grinned, and spoke these words.
"Today's me is not the same as before."
As he spoke, Leo raised his hand, and the magic power within his body surged out like a dam breaking, pouring into the Blazing Heaven Thunder Prison as if it were free, making the dark clouds in the sky even denser, with numerous lightning bolts appearing inside, wildly flickering.
Then, flashes of light broke through the clouds, tore through space, and fell downward at an incredibly fast speed.
Seeing this, how could Miyamoto Musashi not understand?
The impossibly fast flashes of light were, in fact, lightning.
However, it wasn't ordinary lightning, but lightning compressed into a thin beam, like a laser, or rather, a lightning thread.
Due to extreme compression, the lightning threads possessed almost terrifying power, and their speed dramatically increased, almost like light moving at the speed of light, making it difficult for Miyamoto Musashi to even track their trajectory with her eyes.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" ... Instantly, accompanied by a series of roars, lightning threads transformed into flashes of light continuously struck the ground, shattering it and creating numerous deep craters.
"Pfft!"
Miyamoto Musashi dodged almost entirely by relying on her superhuman instincts and a swordswoman's intuition, constantly evading the incoming lightning threads until she could no longer avoid them, then suddenly swung her sword, striking a lightning thread and cutting it in half on the spot.
"As expected of you, to be able to hit that." Leo exclaimed in admiration, but then his tone shifted, and he chuckled, "Then how about this move?"
As his voice fell, Leo once again activated the power of the Blazing Heaven Thunder Prison, stirring up a scorching current of flames around him.
The current of flames, like a dragon and a python, swam back and forth around Leo, as if it had a life of its own.
"Go."
Leo waved his hand, and the current of flames immediately roared downwards, carrying a scorching heatwave, attacking Miyamoto Musashi.
The speed of this attack was far less than that of the previous lightning threads, but Miyamoto Musashi dared not be careless in the slightest.
She repeatedly stomped her feet on the ground, her figure rushing away like a gust of wind, intending to shake off the incoming current of flames, but the current of flames seemed to truly possess life, tightly pursuing her. Even when Miyamoto Musashi changed direction, the current of flames could quickly adjust its trajectory and continue to attack her, forcing her to turn back and deliver a powerful slash, cutting the dragon-like, python-like current of flames in two.
"Bang!"
The severed current of flames exploded with the momentum, and several smaller currents of flames surprisingly shot out from within, striking Miyamoto Musashi, whose expression changed slightly.
"Bang bang bang bang bang —!"
The currents of flames continuously triggered explosions on Miyamoto Musashi's body, blasting her backward on the spot, sending her flying for more than ten meters before she stopped and landed on the ground.
"You hid flames within flames?"
Miyamoto Musashi was somewhat startled, her robes showing charred and damaged areas.
"Let's see this move now."
Leo did not stop, mercilessly continuing to use his Sacred Gear ability, demonstrating a completely different way of controlling his abilities than in the past.
It was as if he had suddenly comprehended something; this time, Leo no longer pursued power as he had in the past, turning the battlefield into a scene of natural disaster or even a corner of the apocalypse. Instead, he displayed extraordinary control techniques.
Lightning threads and currents of flames were just appetizers. Leo also summoned strong winds and had them transform into invisible wind masses, densely spread across the entire field, restricting Miyamoto Musashi's movement.
The ground beneath Miyamoto Musashi's feet constantly trembled, sometimes cracking, sometimes rising, sometimes shattering, and sometimes even turning into swamps or quicksand, making it impossible for Miyamoto Musashi to find a decent foothold. She could only leap into the air, spread her two pairs of devil wings, and fly.
Next, Leo summoned flowing water, making the water rotate and compress, transforming into high-pressure water cannons that shot out. Then he summoned cold currents, letting them spread like white mist, instantly freezing anything they touched.
In this way, Leo continuously compressed Miyamoto Musashi's combat space, making her feel constrained while also having to brace herself against the astonishingly fast lightning threads, currents of flames, wind masses, and high-pressure water cannons. For a time, she was forced into a rather disheveled state.
"Sword Roar Draw!"
Finally, Miyamoto Musashi couldn't hold back anymore and went all out.
"One sword, three bows, break through infinity and reach zero!"
A niō statue, formed by condensed sword pressure, appeared behind the beautiful Female Swordswoman, who was like a vibrant flower, raising the giant sharp blade in its hand and slashing downwards with ferocity.
"Boom!!!"
A deafening roar suddenly erupted in the basement, causing the entire Barrier to tremble as usual.
The world began to shift, and all the lightning threads, currents of flames, wind masses, high-pressure water cannons, and extremely cold mist were all cut apart and vanished without a trace along with the shifting world.
The dark, oppressive sky was also split in two, the clouds violently torn open, and the countless lightning bolts surging within them wildly raged as if being dispersed.
"Stop!"
Seeing the niō statue raise its sword again following Miyamoto Musashi's movements, Leo quickly called out to her.
"That's enough! I can't take your second strike!"
Hearing this, Miyamoto Musashi raised an eyebrow, somewhat regretfully sheathed her sword, and allowed the niō statue behind her to dissipate.
"I think we could have kept going, Young Master Leo. You still have energy left."
Miyamoto Musashi rarely showed dissatisfaction.
"This isn't a life-or-death battle, how could I go all out without holding back?" Leo flew down in front of Miyamoto Musashi, folded his wings, rolled his eyes, and said grumpily, "I don't want to seriously spar with you when you're using your full power; my manor would definitely be blown sky-high, wouldn't it?"
Leo glanced at the surrounding Barrier, noticing quite a few cracks on it.
This was not the first time this had happened.
As Leo grew stronger, Miyamoto Musashi also continuously increased the power she needed to exert during their sparring. Their battles now consistently placed a severe burden on the basement's Barrier, making one highly suspect when it would finally shatter.
"The Barrier here needs to be strengthened." Miyamoto Musashi had no choice but to suggest, "If this continues, the Barrier will eventually break due to the battles between me and Young Master Leo."
In their recent sparring sessions, both of them basically stopped just short of going all out, not daring to be too reckless, to avoid breaking the Barrier.
Once the Barrier broke, with Leo and Miyamoto Musashi's power, blowing up the manor would be a matter of minutes, and the destructive range would even spread to the surroundings.
"The Barrier here is already very strong." Leo scratched his head, saying somewhat helplessly, "It was originally set up according to specifications that could withstand a full-power battle between Highest-level Demons. For this, Sona even went back to the Underworld and invited several experts skilled in setting up Barriers to finally complete the construction of this basement."
The Barrier in the basement was also linked to a terrain restoration spell. As long as the Barrier remained, no matter how much the interior of the Barrier was damaged, it would return to its original state overnight. That's why Leo was basically unconcerned when fighting, even if he overturned the ground several times and thoroughly damaged the terrain inside the Barrier, he didn't care at all.
But once the Barrier was damaged, the terrain restoration spell would also be destroyed, and then people would have to be specially invited to repair it.
"Otherwise, should I tell Lady Serafall?"
Miyamoto Musashi also scratched her head, then continued to offer suggestions.
"Forget it." Leo thought for a moment, then finally refused, saying, "Anyway, my senior is the wielder of a Barrier-type Sacred Gear, so I'll give this to her as a task, letting her be responsible for setting up and strengthening the Barrier here."
He just didn't know how long it would take Kasumigaoka Utaha, with her abilities, to set up a Barrier stronger than this one.
Seeing that Leo had made up his mind, Miyamoto Musashi didn't object. After sheathing her sword, she changed the subject.
"Young Master Leo can now use the Blazing Heaven Thunder Prison skillfully. Next, you should be moving towards the realm of Forbidden Hand, right?"
After the battle just now, Miyamoto Musashi confirmed this, believing that Leo already had the ability to advance towards the ultimate realm of Sacred Gears.
"What do you think of my current strength? Can I defeat a Ten-Wing class being now?"
Leo didn't answer Miyamoto Musashi's question, but instead asked another.
"It might still be a bit difficult, right?" Miyamoto Musashi recalled Leo's performance, then said, "Young Master Leo has indeed become much stronger, but wanting to defeat others two ranks above him before mastering Forbidden Hand is still a bit unrealistic."
"Of course, Young Master Leo is already very close to a Ten-Wing class being, completely different from before."
Previously, Leo's evaluation from Miyamoto Musashi was that he could defeat an Eight-Wing class, but was still quite far from a Ten-Wing class.
Now, Leo's magic power was almost breaking through to the Highest-level Demon rank, and he could use the power of his Sacred Gear skillfully. His strength had greatly increased, and in Miyamoto Musashi's view, he was not far from a Ten-Wing class being.
"As long as you master Forbidden Hand, ordinary Ten-Wing class beings will find it very difficult to be your opponent, Young Master Leo. Only the elites among them will be able to fight you when you've mastered Forbidden Hand, and it might even require a Devil King class being to personally intervene to contend with you."
Miyamoto Musashi looked at Leo, speaking with a hint of anticipation.
"So, try to master Forbidden Hand as soon as possible, Young Master Leo."
Hearing Miyamoto Musashi's words, Leo nodded.
He, indeed, should advance to the next stage.