"Boom!"
In the mist-shrouded separate space, two opposing forces collided head-on.
In an instant, two surging auras erupted and clashed violently. Both originated from Sacred Gear resonances—one blazing gold, filled with holy presence, the other pure white, brimming with the power of nature. The moment they collided, the conflict exploded outward, unleashing violent shockwaves that made the entire space tremble.
"Whoosh!"
Leo spread eight devil wings and slowly rose into the air. As he ascended, the sky above him grew heavier and more oppressive, until dark clouds gathered thickly overhead, lightning flashing and thunder roaring within.
It was a terrifying sight, as if the weight of the heavens and the entire world itself was pressing down.
And yet, Cao Cao—still just a human, armed with nothing but a single spear—trembled with excitement.
"So this is the power of Zenith Tempest?" Cao Cao exclaimed, his battle intent burning like fire. "No wonder it's the Sacred Gear closest to my Holy Spear!"
As the holy power of the Holy Spear surged, Cao Cao raised it high.
"Take this first!"
"Boom!"
The tip of the Holy Spear suddenly opened, gathering an astonishing concentration of holy energy before releasing it all at once.
A torrent of holy flames transformed into a flood of light—like a vortex capable of destroying everything in its path. As it surged upward toward Leo, it vaporized the air itself.
This was the purest and most powerful holy power in the world. When unleashed, it could wipe out even beings without demonic traits. If used in a city, it could reduce multiple skyscrapers to ruins in an instant.
Leo had no intention of letting that kind of power touch him.
Without hesitation, he seized control of the sky, calling down a colossal bolt of lightning to meet the incoming holy flames head-on.
"BOOM!!!"
Lightning and light collided in midair like a meteor striking the earth. The deafening explosion came first, followed by a devastating shockwave that cleared all mist within several kilometers.
"Boom—boom—boom—!"
The thunder didn't stop. Massive bolts of lightning continued to crash down from the sky, striking toward Cao Cao below.
As a human with a fragile body, Cao Cao had no desire to be struck by nature's most terrifying force either. He repeatedly raised the Holy Spear, unleashing waves of holy flames and firing torrents of light to intercept the descending lightning.
"Then take this!"
Leo wasn't about to let Cao Cao escape so easily. He pushed Zenith Tempest further, causing the earth itself to quake.
In an instant, mountains crumbled, the ground split apart, and the entire space shook violently. The terrain was completely reshaped.
Cao Cao felt as if the sky had just crushed down on him—then the earth began to surge upward. The ground beneath his feet collapsed, mudslides roared like raging seas, and massive sandstorms erupted around him. His expression finally changed.
As the ground fully gave way and debris surged in from all directions, Cao Cao leapt into the air without hesitation, breaking free from the earth's grip.
That was exactly what Leo had been waiting for.
The moment Cao Cao jumped, Leo manipulated the atmosphere and unleashed a storm straight at him.
"Bang!"
Cao Cao barely managed to raise the Holy Spear in front of him before the storm hit, blasting him backward.
"Ha! This really feels like fighting the world itself!" Cao Cao laughed loudly.
Despite being cornered, he looked exhilarated. With a sharp twist of the Holy Spear, he aimed it behind himself and released a burst of holy flames, using the recoil to propel himself forward.
Up or down, there was nowhere to escape. For an ordinary human, this was absolute despair.
But Cao Cao seemed to revel in it—like he was savoring the act of challenging the impossible with his fragile human body. A wild grin spread across his face as he shot forward like a meteor, charging straight at Leo.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
Leo responded by launching several massive fireballs, each like a miniature sun, blasting toward Cao Cao in rapid succession.
To Leo's shock, Cao Cao shattered each fireball with the Holy Spear alone, slicing through the flames and continuing his charge.
"So sharp…"
Leo's expression finally changed as he stared at the Holy Spear, his gaze growing heavier.
The biggest difference between a Longinus and an ordinary Sacred Gear wasn't raw power—it was versatility.
Most Sacred Gears possessed only a single ability unless specially modified. A Longinus, however, wielded multiple abilities that complemented each other, creating effects far greater than their sum.
Zenith Tempest, for example, governed both climate and natural attributes. Combined, it could unleash disasters as if commanding all of nature itself.
And the Holy Spear—ranked above Zenith Tempest as the strongest Sacred Gear—had even more abilities.
Leo remembered three of them clearly.
First, unrivaled sharpness—piercing power capable of breaking through any defense.
Second, the ability to freely extend and retract, allowing it to strike enemies at any distance or angle.
Third, overwhelming holy power that acted as absolute suppression against races like devils—even a mere graze could be fatal.
That was why Cao Cao could break through the disasters summoned by Zenith Tempest. Piercing fireballs and dispersing lightning were simply routine maneuvers for the Holy Spear.
"If that's the case…"
Leo spread his arms, forming countless fireballs around himself.
"Then let's see how many attacks your spear can break through!"
Without hesitation, he unleashed them all. The fireballs transformed into blazing meteors, raining down on Cao Cao in a devastating barrage.
"No matter how many you throw at me," Cao Cao shouted, eyes blazing with resolve, "I'll break through every single one!"
The Holy Spear became a blur in his hands. Explosive arcs of spear light erupted as he charged straight into the storm of fire.
"Bangbangbangbangbangbangbang—!"
Explosions filled the sky. Firestorms and shockwaves tore through the air, violently shaking the atmosphere.
Cao Cao swung the Holy Spear like a madman, faster and faster, the spear light growing ever more violent. Astonishingly, he shattered every incoming fireball with nothing but the spear in his hands.
"Damn it!"
Leo couldn't help but curse.
He truly hadn't expected Cao Cao to reach this level.
His spear technique had reached a transcendent realm. It might not suppress time and space like Miyamoto Musashi's sword, but in terms of pure technique, it was no less terrifying.
As a member of the Descendants of Heroes, Cao Cao possessed a special bloodline that made his body stronger than ordinary humans—but it still couldn't compare to non-human races.
And yet, precisely because of that weakness, he had honed his spear skills and combat technique to an astonishing degree, using skill to compensate for his human fragility.
Leo knew this from the original story, but he hadn't imagined Cao Cao's mastery had reached this level.
Seeing Cao Cao rapidly close the distance, Leo didn't hesitate. He flapped his devil wings hard and retreated in a blur.
"Don't think you can run!"
Cao Cao extended the Holy Spear instantly, the tip turning into a flash of light as it stabbed forward through the sky.
While retreating, Leo swiftly formed an ice mountain and a stone mountain in front of himself.
"Boom!"
The flashing spear tip pierced straight through the ice mountain, then punched through the stone mountain as well, losing none of its momentum as it continued toward Leo.
But by then, Leo had already changed direction. He narrowly avoided the thrust and grabbed the shaft of the Holy Spear, lightning exploding from his palm and racing along the spear toward Cao Cao.
Cao Cao had already landed atop the pierced ice mountain, standing firmly as he held the extended spear.
"Trying to make me let go of the Holy Spear?" he declared loudly.
"That won't happen. A weak human like me would lose the right to fight you if I let go of my innate Sacred Gear!"
As his words fell, golden flames ignited along the spear shaft, releasing intense holy power.
"Bang!"
The golden surge dispersed the lightning instantly. Leo's hand, still gripping the spear, began to sizzle with a harsh burning sound.
"Tch…"
Leo clicked his tongue in pain and released the spear, retreating without any regard for appearances.
"This holy power is seriously broken…"
In just that brief contact, Leo felt his hand go completely numb, as if it had been burned away. He couldn't feel it at all.
He had no doubt that if he'd held on any longer, his entire arm would've been purified—erased from existence.
"Fighting the Holy Spear really does require absolute caution."
After confirming that, Leo reactivated Zenith Tempest. Thunder rumbled across the sky once more.
Standing atop the stone mountain, Cao Cao watched with anticipation, murmuring softly—
"Come on."
"Show me more."
=-=-=-=-=
You can read up to chapter 167 on patreon.com/NiaXD.