"Rumble!"
The deafening roar echoed through the fog-shrouded alternate space for who knew how long. The entire space shook and trembled without pause, the vibrations refusing to settle.
As time passed, the battle between Leo and Cao Cao plunged straight into its most intense phase. Phenomena erupted across the space without end.
Shockwaves, thunderous booms, raging flames, crackling lightning, golden auras… one spectacle after another unfolded, dyeing the entire alternate space into something resembling an ancient battlefield of gods, jointly composing an epic, mythic clash.
"Bang!"
With a dull explosion, Leo's body was blasted backward from a sweeping surge of golden energy. The four pairs of devil wings on his back beat frantically before he managed to halt his retreat, leaving him looking more than a little battered.
"Cough…!"
Leo spat out a mouthful of blood, wiping it away with one hand as his gaze locked firmly onto the figure ahead holding the Holy Spear.
To be pushed to this extent by someone wielding the Holy Spear—
At this point, Leo had already gone all out, using every trick at his disposal. And yet, he was still forced back by that man.
"Looks like I had the upper hand this time."
The tip of Cao Cao's Holy Spear remained unfolded, holy radiance rippling along its edge. He smiled faintly at Leo, whom he had just sent flying—then promptly spat out a mouthful of blood himself.
A closer look showed that Cao Cao wasn't in much better shape. His hanfu was torn to shreds, blood trickled down from his forehead, and while it couldn't be called a serious injury, it was proof that he hadn't come out of the fierce exchange unscathed either.
"You don't look any better than I do," Leo mocked. "And you call that having the upper hand?"
Cao Cao's response was utterly unconcerned.
"It can't be helped. The human body is just too fragile. You, with Zenith Tempest, are practically the embodiment of a natural disaster. Just dodging your attacks is already difficult—getting caught in the aftermath is unavoidable. Ending up like this is simply inevitable."
That wasn't an excuse. Human bodies really were fragile, their vitality nowhere near that of a devil's. Facing a calamity head-on with such a body was already incredible. For Cao Cao to fight Leo and only suffer this much damage was impressive in itself.
"We're in the same boat, aren't we?" Leo glanced at the Holy Spear in Cao Cao's hands. "As long as I'm a devil, I can't ignore the threat of that weapon. Even getting grazed by it could cripple me on the spot. If we're talking about disadvantages, neither of us has the right to complain."
If anything, it was even worse for him.
The pressure Leo felt fighting Cao Cao was no less than when he had fought Miyamoto Musashi. In terms of raw strength, Cao Cao might fall short of Musashi due to being human, but his technique was in no way inferior. Add in the strongest Longinus in existence, and Leo was convinced that even Miyamoto Musashi herself wouldn't fare well against Cao Cao.
Musashi didn't particularly counter Leo, but Cao Cao's Holy Spear perfectly suppressed him as a devil. Comparing the two, it was obvious which opponent put more pressure on him.
If Cao Cao's weaknesses weren't so glaring—if his body weren't so fragile—Leo didn't think he'd have managed to injure him this much.
"And besides…"
"It's clear now," Leo said calmly, as if he'd already seen through Cao Cao. "You didn't come here this time just to say hello."
"Maybe saying hello was part of it," Leo continued, his words carrying deeper meaning. "But collecting my combat data, analyzing my strength, and preparing a strategy to counter me before our next encounter—so you can strike me down with overwhelming force. That was your real objective, wasn't it?"
At those words, Cao Cao's eyes instantly sharpened. The look he gave Leo was no longer just filled with battle intent.
"…You actually saw through that?" Cao Cao rested the Holy Spear on his shoulder, sounding half helpless, half reflective. "Seems I underestimated you, Leo Eligos."
"That wasn't something I expected. Looks like our Hero Faction's evaluation of you was too low."
"It's because you were too obvious," Leo replied bluntly, unfazed by the praise. "Throughout the entire fight, aside from the opening attack meant to provoke me, you were always reacting rather than initiating. Every move felt like a deliberate probe, forcing me to reveal more of my strength. Like an obsessive, you insisted on countering every attack I threw at you before you'd be satisfied."
"What do you gain from head-on clashes like that? Aside from burning through stamina, it's completely pointless."
"And yet, you don't look like the type who does pointless things. You may be far inferior to your ancestor, but if you carry the blood of a hero—no, of an ambitious tyrant—then rather than believing you were wasting effort, I'd sooner believe you had another scheme in mind."
If that were all, Leo wouldn't have been so certain that Cao Cao was deliberately testing him and gathering information.
But—
He was a transmigrator.
As someone who had read the original story, Leo knew exactly what kind of man stood before him.
Simply put, although Cao Cao was human, his ambition reached the heavens. He constantly claimed to be weak, yet couldn't tolerate weaker races standing above humanity. In order to explore humanity's limits, he would stir up chaos without hesitation, thriving on turmoil—a complete villain.
In the original story, to defeat those he considered targets, he orchestrated countless incidents. His favored method was always the same: probe first, gather all the information, devise a perfect counter-strategy, then strike decisively with absolute certainty. Countless disasters followed, and many important people were hurt because of it.
That was why Leo was certain—Cao Cao was testing him, collecting intelligence to ensure a one hundred percent chance of victory next time.
"The Old Maou Faction incident had your involvement too, didn't it?" Leo changed the subject abruptly. "That was also part of the probing, right?"
"The artificial monsters created during that attack—those were lent to Lafei Trix by your Hero Faction, weren't they?"
Leo had already basically confirmed that those monsters were created by the holder of Annihilation Maker. And according to the original story, that Top-Tier Longinus was currently in the Hero Faction, held by one of its members.
"And that Labyrinth Space," Leo continued. "Just like this alternate space, it should've been created by the same person, right?"
Though the two spaces differed in scale, both attacks involved alternate space technology. That couldn't be a coincidence.
Even if a faction possessed the technology, alternate spaces weren't something to be abused freely. Yet both incidents featured them.
"If I'm not mistaken, that space was created by the holder of another Top-Tier Longinus—Dimension Lost."
Ranked fourth among Longinus, Dimension Lost could endlessly release fog, sealing anything that entered it, even forcibly transporting targets into alternate dimensions.
Alternate spaces weren't particularly rare—devils, angels, and fallen angels all possessed such technology. But it wasn't something any random organization could just use at will.
The Old Maou Faction's attack also utilized forced spatial transfer. Even if the holder of Dimension Lost didn't personally act, it didn't mean he wasn't involved behind the scenes.
Putting it all together, the Lafei Trix incident wasn't just the Old Maou Faction's doing—it also bore the Hero Faction's mark.
As for their objective…
"Was it to confirm the Underworld's movements by attacking a Maou's family? To divert the devil race's attention toward the Old Maou Faction? Or to sow chaos as cover for future actions?" Leo listed calmly. "Or perhaps to force a Maou to act personally so you could gather intelligence on them?"
He laid out each calculation one by one.
"More or less," Leo concluded. "It's just that you didn't expect me to be the holder of Zenith Tempest—and that I'd also possess another Holy Relic on par with the Holy Spear, the 'Incinerate Anthem.' That's why you took interest in me, and why you decided I might be a threat, prompting this little 'greeting,' right?"
As Leo's analysis unfolded, the smile on Cao Cao's face slowly faded.
By the time Leo finished speaking, Cao Cao was no longer smiling at all. His deep gaze was fixed on Leo, as if reassessing his worth, sharp and intense.
Leo met that gaze calmly, the atmosphere growing heavy and oppressive.
After a long silence, Cao Cao finally spoke.
"A brilliant analysis. Brilliant judgment." He tapped the Holy Spear against his shoulder. "No wonder Sona Sitri herself took notice of you."
"I never expected to be seen through to this extent. Honestly, your keen insight isn't any weaker than that fallen angel governor's."
As far as they knew, only that individual had been able to sense their presence and see through some of their arrangements.
Before this, neither the devils nor the Heavenly side had noticed them at all.
By all logic, Leo, as a devil, should've been the same. Yet he displayed an abnormal level of familiarity with them, making Cao Cao suspect there might be some hidden variable at play.
"This is troublesome," Cao Cao sighed. "I really didn't plan to do anything to you right now. I haven't seen all your cards yet, and without absolute certainty of keeping you here, taking action would be reckless. If you suddenly pulled out a power you'd never used before—like you did against Lafei Trix—we'd only end up on the losing end."
"But now, I'm starting to fear your insight and perspective."
"Perhaps I should try, at any cost, to keep you here forever."
Cao Cao's gaze turned cold as he raised the Holy Spear once more.
"No helping it. I'll have to get serious."
As he spoke, an astonishing Sacred Gear fluctuation erupted from the Holy Spear.
That invisible ripple spread outward, merging with the flow of the world itself—and disrupting it.
Seeing this, Leo immediately understood.
Cao Cao was truly going all out.
When a Sacred Gear's wielder's will underwent a drastic change—strong enough to defy the world's pervasive flow—the gear would reach its ultimate domain.
Cao Cao was about to unleash it.
His low voice echoed throughout the alternate space, making Leo tense up instantly.
He knew this was the moment that would decide life and death.
He couldn't hold back anymore.
Demonic power blazed in Leo's eyes as an equally overwhelming Sacred Gear fluctuation surged from his body, just like Cao Cao's Holy Spear—beginning to alter the world's flow.
"Then let's do this!"
Seeing that, Cao Cao's eyes widened slightly. As if his warrior instincts had been ignited, his battle lust and fighting spirit surged once more.
"Come!"
The true power of the True Longinus and Zenith Tempest—the two strongest Sacred Gears in this world—was about to be revealed.
Unfortunately, just as the most violent collision was about to occur, the silent third party finally stepped in.
"Calm down, Cao Cao."
A young man in a mage's robe suddenly appeared beside him, reaching out to grasp the raised Holy Spear.
"Now isn't the time to reveal this spear's true power."
Cao Cao snapped his head around.
"Georg!"
His voice brimmed with dissatisfaction and raging battle intent, making it clear he had no intention of stopping.
Georg, of course, understood—but he didn't let go.
"I can feel this alternate space being invaded," Georg said succinctly. "The Underworld has noticed us. Our time is up."
That single sentence cooled Cao Cao down immediately.
"…Hah."
He exhaled slowly and lowered the Holy Spear.
"Then we'll end it here."
Georg nodded.
"You're running?" Leo asked bluntly, having seen everything.
"More or less," Cao Cao admitted casually. "Don't bother trying to stop us, Eligos. Just like I don't have the confidence to keep you here, you don't have the confidence to keep us either, right?"
"This battle will have to wait."
He looked at Leo with burning, brilliant eyes.
"Next time, we'll settle this properly."
"Then I'll show you the Holy Spear's true power."
"I hope you'll do the same—and show me the real Zenith Tempest."
With those words, dense fog spread throughout the alternate space.
In the blink of an eye, all figures were swallowed by the mist, vanishing without a trace.
=====
You can read up to chapter 168 on patreon.com/NiaXD.