Zarek swung his massive fists downward, smashing the ground where Leon had been standing just moments before, but of course, the human had already moved away from the impact with practiced agility.

BOOM!

The sheer strength of his fists was enough to create a massive fissure in the ground where he attacked, the stone cracking and splintering under the force of the blow.

"Oh gods, Zarek," the queen gasped, though it was obvious she was just playing around and not genuinely concerned, "No need to be so aggressive with the poor thing... this human is only level 90, after all."

"Grrr..." the army’s commander groaned, though he still emitted a powerful aura that crackled around his massive frame, ready to attack once more with even greater force.

"You think you can take him on?" Violet asked as she held her rapier in her hands, her eyes fixed on the battle unfolding before her, "This fight will be difficult, and I don’t guarantee our victory at all."

"Wait a minute, what’s even the goal of the fight to begin with?" Leon asked, his voice carrying across the arena, "Do we just kill each other? And if so, is the death permanent or do we get revived?"

"I think we all have [Resurrection Stones] on us," Violet shrugged, her expression uncertain, "So once we die, we’ll probably revive somewhere? I’m not entirely sure how it works here."

"Huh, alright," Leon said, accepting the uncertainty.

Even Violet didn’t seem so sure about the rules of engagement, but regardless of that, Leon would fight with everything he had... and kill the two of them if that was what it took to win.

Killing the [Imperial Queen] was likely the worst crime in this kingdom, punishable by permanent death, but there was no way they simply made her fight without preparing some kind of revival system, right?

The thought of slashing her and her not waking up made Leon hesitate for a brief moment but then he pushed the thought aside.

SMASH!

Another attack from Zarek brought him back to reality and he simply vowed to win no matter what, consequences be damned.

He didn’t really have anything to be scared of since he could always revive with [Life Vessel] anyway, so death wasn’t the end for him.

Instead of simply dodging the attacks, Leon rushed forward and swung his sword with all his might toward the massive guard.

Zarek immediately positioned himself to defend the attack and even used one of his defense skills: [Steel Wall].

His two hands turned into solid steel as he positioned them like a cross before him, ready to block whatever came his way.

But against Leon’s blessed sword, the steel wasn’t enough.

SLASH!

Leon swung his sword, and the blood heart’s blessing was so powerful that it managed to put a massive dent on the commander’s defense, cracking the steel surface.

"...Grrr?" even he was confused as he saw his steel wall massively damaged from this single attack alone, his reptilian eyes widening in surprise.

Physical attacks seemed to work perfectly fine against him because his constitution didn’t allow him to tank Leon’s strength effectively, leaving him vulnerable to powerful strikes.

But as for Leon’s spells, that was a different story entirely.

Vines of Torment! Shadow Bullets! Cataclysmic Fireball! Torrent of Lightning!

Leon unleashed them all at once in a massive display of magical power while the giant lizard attempted to obliterate Leon with his own attacks.

But Leon had underestimated the guard’s speed, because though Leon was extremely fast by normal standards, he was still not as fast as the army’s commander who had years of training.

Fwoosh!

In a few quick steps, Zarek dodged Leon’s massive fireball, sidestepped all the lightning strikes that rained from above, and even weaved through all his shadow bullets with fluid grace.

"Damn," Leon muttered under his breath, impressed by the display.

As for the vines of torment, Zarek didn’t even bother dodging them as he simply charged straight through them, his massive strength snapping the magical vines like they were made of paper.

Zarek’s aura reached its peak as he arrived in front of Leon, who saw the giant man ready to smash through him with his massive arms.

And this time, Leon knew he wouldn’t be able to dodge in time, the attack too fast and too close to avoid.

He turned his gaze lightly toward Violet, who was still looking at his battle with concern, not even starting her own fight against the queen who remained motionless.

And Iris didn’t fight either, instead observing what her guard was doing against the human with clear amusement.

The entire arena was spectating the two of them fighting, though it was quite obvious that Zarek was much more powerful and was slowly overwhelming Leon.

SLAM!

Zarek slammed into Leon with devastating force, sending him flying across the arena and hitting the massive wall as he crashed into it with bone-shaking impact.

His [Mega Darkness Barrier] flickered slightly, cracks spread all over its surface, but it didn’t break completely, holding together by a thread.

Leon slowly got up, his head spinning slightly from the impact, but he still got ready to fight, his determination unwavering.

’God fucking damn it, Violet,’ he groaned internally, wishing she would help.

"Is that truly your companion, Violet?" Iris shook her head with mock disappointment, "You need to pick a better mate if you wish to—"

"You’re not fighting me because you think your guard will win, making this a 2v1 if I try to help him," Violet cut her off sharply, "But I’m not doing anything for the same reason."

The two girls hoped their respective companion would defeat the other, making the next fight easier to win and tipping the scales in their favor.

But even Violet could see that Leon was being overwhelmed by the guard, the combat power difference simply too high for him to overcome with regular means.

Well, Violet knew that if Leon wanted, he could summon the [Oblivion Meteor] and destroy everything, but that would quite literally kill everyone here including herself, so it wasn’t really preferable in this situation.

Leon’s second option would be to use [Berserk], which would be enough to kill Zarek, but then that would mean passing out afterward and being completely vulnerable, and he hoped for something like that didn’t happen.

He would only do that if the situation truly required him to take that risk, until then, he’d continue fighting with his regular abilities.

"Grrr..." Zarek growled, preparing for another assault.

And Leon’s third option... well, he wasn’t quite ready to use that one yet.

Fwoosh!

Zarek rushed forward once more with terrifying speed, and though Leon tried to dodge out of the way, the giant commander slammed directly into Leon once again, this time shattering his barrier completely.

Leon started to bleed from his mouth and nose too, the damage accumulating rapidly.

Seeing him in such a battered condition, Violet trembled slightly, and even wanted to actually move and help him, her concern overriding her strategy.

Leon managed to overwhelm the [Forsaken King] by himself in their previous encounter, but if this battle became too difficult for him, she’d intervene without hesitation.

"Starting to hesitate?" Iris grinned, noticing Violet’s internal conflict, "As I said before, pick a better mate, a human is... less than desirable, my dear."

Violet lowered her hand, loosening her grip around her rapier and taking a deep breath to calm herself, "No, let’s just watch this for now."

Zarek lowered himself at that moment, his aura surrounding him and streaking behind him like a comet’s tail, then with a powerful jump, he launched himself extremely high, reaching the height where Leon’s chamber was located.

"Oh boy, Zarek’s ultimate move," Iris laughed with delight, "I guess you will both die at the same time if you don’t do something..."

The entire arena would be hit by the attack, including Iris herself, but she didn’t seem to care about the collateral damage.

Instead she mumbled an incantation under her breath, and a protective bubble appeared around her, shielding her from the incoming blast.

On the other hand, Violet immediately unleashed her wings and flew toward Leon, ready to grab him and fly away from this place to safety.

But of course, Iris had other plans.

Flaming Wall!

Iris unleashed a spell with a flick of her staff, and a massive wall of green flames erupted from the arena’s ground, cutting off Violet from Leon completely.

If she wanted to get to him unharmed, she’d have to fly over it, but she simply didn’t have the time to make it around.

"My flames are incredibly strong," Iris giggled, "If you pass through this wall... you will inevitably scorch to death within the next minute or so, I wouldn’t risk it."

Violet could sense the sheer strength of these flames radiating heat, and knew the queen wasn’t kidding about their deadliness.

But then, what could she possibly do in this situation? Would she allow Leon to get smashed to death by the mass of muscle descending from above?

"...Powerless, once again," she mumbled to herself, her fists clenching, "Just like in the [Forsaken City], I couldn’t do anything to help then either."

She looked up and she saw Zarek spin before diving back toward the ground, his entire body resembling a meteor as a massive trail of aura was left behind in his wake.

In less than a second, Zarek was already on the verge of hitting the ground, forcing Violet to fly up to avoid the blast radius, and even the bubble Iris was in started to float upward, leaving Leon completely alone in the arena.

And right as Zarek was about to hit the ground, obliterating Leon with the force of a falling star, Leon finally made his move.

’Alright,’ he smiled faintly, ’Here goes nothing.’

TIME STOP!