Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 776: A Villain [3]

A pair of eyes met.

One gray. One hazel.

The world came to a standstill the moment the two stopped to look at each other.

In the end, the silence between the two didn’t last for long.

"Are you not going to give it to me?"

He looked the same, but he wasn’t the same. For a brief moment, Leon felt his chest tremble. However, he was quick to calm himself down as he closed his eyes before opening them up again and staring at Julien.

"...I apologize, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do that."

"Why?"

Rather than getting angry, Julien remained calm. This was different compared to the crazed Julien he had grown up with.

"Why won’t you give me the Chalice? Are you worried that the moment I drink whatever is in the Chalice, your little friend will never be able to come back?"

A soft smile marred Julien’s features as he looked around.

"You’re right about that."

His expression contorted for a brief moment. In that moment, Leon almost seemed to see the real, ’raw’ version that he had grown up to see. And yet, just as it seemed like Julien would lose himself to the anger, he took a couple of breaths and calmed himself down.

"Right, right. I’m no longer that person."

He massaged his head while looking back at Leon with a calm look. One that left Leon deeply unsettled.

"...Since you won’t give me the Chalice, I’ll have no choice but to take it myself." Julien looked around, his eyes narrowing. "I’ll have to be quick, though. I don’t think I have much time."

Julien’s eyes turned purple right after that.

Immediately, something about the surroundings changed. They grew heavier. Colder.

Chills started to run down Leon’s body as he looked at Julien.

He had heard all about his exploits and strength. However, it was only now that he was standing before him that he could feel just how much more powerful Julien had become. Just one look was enough to send chills down his spine, and at the same time, blind him.

Yes, blind him.

Leon lost his sight.

Everything turned completely black.

".....!?"

Leon’s heartbeat quickened as he forced himself to remain calm, his ears perking up to catch any sound around him.

Swoosh!

’There!’

With a twist of his body, a sword materialized in Leon’s hand as he slashed down in the direction from which he felt the movement was coming.

But—

".....!"

He was unable to hit anything as his sword sliced through the air.

Swoosh!

The wind behind him stirred, and Leon grew alarmed.

BANG!

He stomped his foot against the ground, halting mid-motion. His torso twisted sharply, joints popping and bones creaking under the sudden strain, the sound cutting through the air like dry wood bending.

"Haaa!"

In just a brief moment, Leon managed to alter the course of his attack.

This time, he was finally able to hit something.

BANG!

Leon found his vision returning as he looked ahead, where a figure stood, looking a little impressed as he massaged his neck.

"That’s pretty impressive. You have some serious control over your muscles." Julien complimented, looking completely unscathed.

Leon didn’t feel much from the compliment.

At least, not from him.

However, it was also true that he had absolute control over every muscle in his body. He hadn’t been wasting his time in the past two years. He had trained without pause, every single day, never once taking a break.

He sought out experts from every Empire, including his master in his own Empire.

The result was this.

Absolute muscle control.

"...You’re pretty good yourself."

Leon replied, trying to take this opportunity to vibrate his inner muscles, warming them up further. The more warmed up they were, the more he could control them.

"Thank you. I’ve trained quite diligently under my master."

Julien replied, his gaze falling into his hand as it turned completely purple.

"I still find it hard to believe that ’he’ would neglect curse magic this much. Is it because he’s simply not adept at it...? Or is it because I’m simply that much better than he was?"

Julien moved his fingers, his purple eyes flickering as he turned his attention back to Leon.

"...Maybe that’s the case. What a pity. He was missing out so much."

Snap!

He snapped his fingers.

".....!!"

Leon’s expression changed. However, it was too late.

’How!?’

He lost his vision again.

"There are just so many possibilities with curse magic. Just look at you now? With just a snap of my fingers, I made you lose your sight."

Leon’s head flicked to his right. Right where he heard the voice.

But—

"Sight isn’t the only thing I can remove from you."

Snap!

With a sudden snap, Leon suddenly lost all hearing. The world around him grew completely silent.

From sound to vision.

He had lost both.

’...Shit.’

Leon’s face crumbled. For a moment, he grew flustered. This was the first time he had ever encountered something like this. It wasn’t like he had never encountered a scenario where he had lost one of his senses. But both...?

’No, I can’t let him get close to me.’

Thankfully, Leon had a good memory. Even though his sight and hearing were impaired, he was aware of exactly where he was. Without wasting a single second, he pressed his foot onto the ground and pushed himself away.

Feeling the snap of his legs, he relied on his remaining senses to make sense of his surroundings. With everything memorized, he had a good idea of where he was going as he started to dash in different directions, trying his best to buy time for himself.

’Just like before, there’s a time limit for each of the curses. So long as I last until then, I should be fine.’

The real issue at hand was trying to figure out how Julien had managed to plant the curses on him.

So what if he managed to wait for long enough for the curses to die down?

If Julien were to curse him again, then he’d be doing the same thing again. He had to think quickly.

’No, wait...’

Leon suddenly stopped, an idea popping into his mind.

’Right. Why didn’t I think of that?’

So what if he didn’t have his sight or hearing? What did those matters when he had his...

Domain.

Leon pressed down onto the ground, and the surroundings shifted. All of a sudden, a clear outline of every single rock and building appeared in his vision, including...

"There you are!"

Leon’s legs snapped, releasing all the built-up tension like the string of a bow drawn to its limit.

".....!?"

Perhaps not expecting Leon to do this, Julien wasn’t able to react in time as Leon appeared before him in the snap of a second. Still, Julien reacted fast enough to summon a large purple hand, covering his entire body.

BANG!

The hand shattered almost immediately, but it was just about enough to absorb most of the power coming from Leon’s attack.

Julien tried to follow up with another attack, but Leon was faster.

With his entire body glowing a yellow hue, the stars faded from the surroundings. His body gained an unbelievable amount of power as his muscles swelled, and his speed shot through the roof.

He was so fast that Julien didn’t even have the time to react before Leon was already upon him.

".....!?"

His sword sliced down.

Swooosh!

But—

Julien’s figure faded completely, revealing an illusion as Leon’s head turned backward.

He still couldn’t hear or see, but he didn’t need such senses within his domain. At this very moment, he could see and feel everything that was within his domain. As such, the moment Julien’s after-image faded and he appeared again, he was already upon Julien, his sword cleaving down from above.

Despite the suddenness of Leon’s appearance, Julien wasn’t flustered.

But rather...

A smirk tugged at his lips as the sword came down. Then, it swerved away from Julien. Almost as if the reality around Julien was completely different.

Leon’s expression underwent a change, but it was too late.

This was the exact moment Julien had been waiting for as his eyes flickered.

[Eye of Existence].

Leon’s mind grew blank.

Then—

Julien’s hand sharply moved forward, grabbing Leon by the head.

"Got you."

"——!"

Snapping out of it, Leon kicked Julien in the abdomen to distance himself.

BANG!

"Kuek...!"

Not expecting Leon’s speed, Julien couldn’t block his abdomen. He stumbled back several steps, clutching his stomach as saliva spattered from his mouth.

"Huerk! Kh....!"

The pain was a lot stronger than expected.

It drove Julien to his knees as he lurched forward, vomit spilling from his mouth. As a mage, his body was extremely weak. Not only that, but he was also not the same as the ’parasite’. He didn’t have the same domain, and as such, didn’t have ways to protect his body from close attacks.

"Uerh!"

Fighting to hold back his vomit, Julien sensed a presence before him. Slowly, he lifted his head.

Leon stood before him, eyes closed.

Rather than panicking, the smirk returned to Julien’s lips as he looked at Leon.

"...You don’t look so well."

Indeed. Moments after muttering those words, red trickled from Leon’s eyes, streaking down his cheeks. Blood soon followed from his nostrils and ears as well.

Leon’s body started to tremble, and he staggered back.

"Ha."

Julien held the urge to laugh, slowly picking himself back up as the domain around him started to shrink back into Leon’s body. He kept alert while staring at Leon. He knew that the fight was far from over.

Leon wasn’t going to fall so easily.

"It doesn’t feel so great, right?" Julien stared at his hand as it grew a deep shade of purple, almost turning black. "My curse... It doesn’t feel good, right?"

He punched toward Leon. Magic circles sprang up around him, and purple hands shot from them, latching onto Leon. His expression turned even paler.

Despite this, Leon continued to resist as he stumbled back.

Julien’s face turned cold at the sight as his eyes narrowed.

"Where is it? Where is the Chalice...?"

Julien had to get the Chalice. It was the key to becoming whole again. He couldn’t live with the thought of his body being taken over once more. The anxiety it brought was nightmarish.

There were days when he couldn’t sleep, thinking that the moment he closed his eyes, he’d find himself back in that prison that had sealed him for so long.

He couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t do it.

"The Chalice..."

Julien’s voice grew even colder, his expression slowly crumbling.

"Give it to me before I have to kill you for it."

His hand rose, and hands latched onto Leon. Just as Julien was about to take another step, he froze, eyes landing on the blue veins suddenly spreading across Leon.

"There it is..."

A slow and gradual smile began to spread on his lips moments later.

"It wasn’t so hard, was it?"