Dimensional Descent

Alerina was quite surprised to see a human enter her territory. Well, this couldn't truly be considered her territory as she too had just stepped into it. By coincidence, the two of them had entered at near the same time from adjacent directions. They had hardly taken a step when they noticed one another and immediately changed their focus.

What surprised her even more, though, was that despite seeing her, this human wasn't afraid. This was definitely new to her. Let alone humans, even members of other races who saw her would be very afraid. This wasn't because she looked like a monster or anything, it was quite the opposite, in fact. The reason was because much like the other races, her talent had very strong physical signs.

Alerina was all face just like the other members of her race. She looked like a sculptor that had had the back half of her head removed, but rather than making her look weird, with the flowing cloud that made up her brain and seemingly also her hair, not to mention the golden runes floating within it, it made her look like an ethereal deity untouched by mortality.

The features of her face were especially gentle, the only sharpness coming from her small nose. The curves of her cheeks and jaw were all perfect and feminine in an almost exaggerated way, making her look like the representation of what a perfect woman might be.

Her eyes reflected the Cloud Figure that flowed behind her, dancing with golden runes as well. Much like the rest of her race, it made her look like a hollowed mask being carried by a tail of ethereal clouds... if said mask was of a goddess descended from above, that is.

Alerina's cherry lips curled, her Cloud Figure sparkling like twinkling stars. Usually when she did this, most wouldn't be able to stand looking at her anymore and would turn away in either embarrassment or a feeling of unworthiness, but Leonel simply continued to look at her without a word, his expression not giving much away.

He had seen many beauties before, this wasn't enough to move him. Plus, Alerina relied much more on her aura and disposition to pressure him, which was even more fool's gold. If she thought such a thing would work, there was only disappointment in store for her.

"You're an interesting human," Alerina said lightly.

"Someone else told me that before."

"Oh? And where are they now."

"Since I'm here, isn't it obvious?"

Alerina released a bell-like laughter. "What an arrogant man."

Leonel's own lip curled into a sneer. He had heard that one too, but he didn't feel like repeating himself.

With a glance at Alerina's spear, he could tell that she had cleared between 20 and 30 regions. This was a far cry from his own almost 90, but given his advantages in this matter, Alerina was definitely very impressive, and that was especially so since she had done it without a special spear like his own.

Even so, judging by the armor that coated her voluptuous body, although she hadn't gained a specialty spear, she had definitely received other rewards.

"Let me see if you have skills warranting that arrogance."

Alerina took a step forward and charged, but to her surprise, before she could properly build up momentum, she was interrupted.

Leonel activated Knight's Charge and crossed the distance to her even faster than what she could muster, lancing his spear forward and aiming right for her chest plate without regard for her gender in the slightest.

Alerina's gaze narrowed. Her armor released a light glow and a pulse of light jetted outward with her as the center. Leonel immediately found the speed and power of his spear cut in half.

CLANG!

Taking advantage, Alerina deflected Leonel's blade, sliding her own along its underside and snaking it toward Leonel's throat. It was clear that she was exceptionally skilled, and she had gained quite a bit of practice using her armor as well. But what she didn't expect was Leonel's nonchalant response.

Rather than panicking, Leonel slightly shifted the trajectory of his spear, not fighting back against Alerina's blow, but rather deflecting his own spear even further upward. Then, he activated Knight's Charge once again, this time for a short distance.

His feet shifted and he suddenly covered a two feet distance in the blink of an eye, almost as though he had just teleported there.

Alerina's spear, which had been aimed for Leonel's throat, was found to be off course due to Leonel's slight adjustment and it barely slid by and over his shoulder by a centimeter or two.

BANG!

Alerina suffered a solid knee to her torso.

Leonel had used the momentum of Knight's Charge to not only dodge, but to also gather up strength for this attack, and the results were devastating.

Alerina, caught off guard, had all the wind in her body knocked out, a mouthful of blood flying from her soft cherry lips as she was sent flying backward like a cannonball.

Leonel shifted his lance-like spear again and activated Knight's Charge once more, closing the distance between himself and Alerina in a blink.

Alerina, despite being disoriented, reacted quickly, activating her armor's ability once more and half Leonel's strength and speed.

But her timing this time was off. Leonel's Knight's charge stopped just outside the range of the ripple of life before he activated Knight's Charge again and swung down with a vicious momentum.

BANG!

Alerina coughed out another mouthful of blood, her inner organs rattling. It was only now she realized that Leonel's strength and raw speed were so much greater than her own. Just how many Beast Crystals had he swallowed until now? If not for her armor, she would have already been severely injured beyond the point of continuing in this tribulation.

She couldn't believe that she was losing so sound to a human.

Leonel landed above Alerina, his spear glowing with a fierce light as he pierced downward.

"One spear to connect the earth and skies."