Chapter 255: Half Way [Bonus Chapter] (1/2)

Though it was only by a few centimeters, the overall result would be far different than what he anticipated.

Leonel's blood boiled and his spine ran cold.

In such a threatening situation, he grew more focused, his thinking speed accelerating so quickly that time seemed to slow.

In an instant, Leonel zipped through all of the potential countermeasures he had and responded with the best.

BANG!

His foot slammed into the ground, a swirl of wind and oppressive Spirit Pressure surging around him.

”[Earthen Wall]. [Layering Arts]. [Harden].”

It was impossible to cast a spell so quickly. Even for Leonel.

An arrow crossing ten meters was the matter of a blink of an eye. But, even Leonel's fastest cast would take a full second.

However… It was then Leonel's Dreamscape flashed, sending out a branch of lightning.

In the core of it all, a book stood: 'Fostering a Mage's Battle Sense'. In fact, it wasn't just the book, but a specific chapter by the title of 'Spirit Pressure Storms'.

There were many things that could influence a mage's casting. Depending on the environment, there were an infinite number of variables. One such variable was the so-called 'Spirit Pressure Storm'.

When a high level Mage Art was cast, it would cause Force to converge. High concentrations of Force made it more difficult to control, especially when the concentration was of an opposing Force type to the one you were trying to use.

For example, trying to cast a large scale Water Elemental magic right after someone cast a Fire Elemental magic was several degrees more difficult.

If Maugrier's arrows weren't on Leonel's predicted trajectory, there was only one explanation: He had used Force to control their flight.

If Leonel took advantage of this and applied the concepts of 'Spirit Pressure Storms' here, he could disrupt Maugrier's control!

SHUUU!

Leonel sucked in a cold breath as he felt two arrows tear through the skin on his shoulder.

Taking a step forward, he cut down on the last one, continuing to close the distance.

Maugrier's expression changed.

At first, he had sneered seeing Leonel's reaction. Though he had been surprised that Leonel was a mage, after a moment, he laughed in his heart. How could he not?

Leonel started to cast three different spells at once. Even the weakest, [Harden], should have taken a veteran mage two seconds to cast. To make it worse, [Layering Arts] was a high level auxiliary Mage Art that multiplied the strength of spells by stacking them.

[Layering Arts] alone would take a talented Magus upwards of ten seconds to cast alone. In such a situation, Leonel was bound to die.

Maugrier had thought that Leonel was simply a talented fool with no battle experience, but this situation completely upended his world.

The fact Leonel completely dispelled his attempted casting right after deflecting his last arrow told him all he needed to know. The truth shocked him to his core.

As a Demon Lord and a veteran of the battlefield, he obviously knew that high fluctuations of Force would disrupt techniques. But, this was the first time he had ever seen anyone use it in battle!