Reiligh kept his gaze fixed on Leon for a few seconds, evaluating him more carefully than before. The change in his posture was clear—there was no longer any intention to hide or maintain a weaker appearance. The mana around his body stabilized at a completely different level, constantly pressuring the environment, while small air currents began to form around him, rotating almost imperceptibly at first, but gradually increasing in intensity.
"Leon Solfyr… what a troublesome man."
"That must be how your country sees me all the time."
"…How arrogant."
He was considered one of the strongest in the enemy kingdom in the original story, someone who rarely appeared directly in confrontations, but whose influence was enough to alter the course of entire wars. Unlike other high-level mages, Reiligh did not build his reputation through open battles, but through infiltration and control. His presence in that kingdom was not the result of luck or sudden opportunity, but of a long and calculated process.
"You must feel like all those years were a waste."
"As always, intelligent—but I won't fall for your provocation."
Reiligh scoffed before rolling his eyes. From the beginning, he chose not to show his true strength. He presented himself as a rank 5 mage, someone with above-average intelligence but without enough power to be seen as a threat. Over time, he began offering strategic advice, solving small problems that caught the king's attention. Gradually, he gained space within the court, always maintaining a consistent and controlled performance. He never tried to rise too quickly, never drew more attention than necessary, and that was exactly what allowed him to establish himself without raising suspicion. When he finally reached the position of councilor, he already had access to information and decisions that few possessed. Now, all of that seemed to have been exposed at once.
"How did you find out?"
"It was obvious."
Leon simply had a blank expression, as if it were a stupid question, just like he had done with the councilor who fought earlier. Reiligh frowned slightly, as if expecting something more detailed, but didn't insist. He knew he wouldn't have time for answers, and it seemed Leon wasn't going to respond anyway.
The fire spear generated even more condensed flames in Leon's hand, denser than before, and he advanced without hesitation. The distance between the two quickly closed, and Reiligh reacted instantly, releasing a significant amount of mana. The air around him compressed, forming an invisible barrier that collided directly with Leon's advance.
"Wind Barrier."
The impact was not enough to completely stop the attack, but it altered its trajectory enough for Reiligh to dodge, spinning his body in the air and repositioning above the strike. Without wasting time, he countered with a sequence of compressed wind blades, fired from different angles to make any attempt to dodge difficult. Leon blocked part of the attacks with the spear, but one of the blades slipped through his defense and struck his shoulder, opening a cut that immediately began to bleed.
"Tsk."
[Be careful, he's different from the others.]
'I know, after all I read the story.'
Leon continued advancing, ignoring the damage, while adjusting the position of his spear for a new attack. The temperature around him increased rapidly, directly interfering with the wind currents created by Reiligh.
'This attack is going to be troublesome.'
Reiligh noticed the change and chose not to maintain direct confrontation. Using his affinity, he moved through the air with greater speed, creating distance while maintaining constant pressure with ranged attacks. Wind currents began to spin around Leon—not only as attacks, but also as a way to limit his movements, altering the resistance of the air around him.
"Smart and strong, fighting enemies like this is always annoying."
From the memories of both Leon and Enrico, they had already faced this type of opponent, and to be honest, Leon didn't like it much, because it made the fight far more difficult. Tightening his grip on the spear, Leon responded by increasing the intensity of the fire even more. The heat began to distort the environment itself, creating thermal waves that interfered with the stability of the wind.
'But I'm the same way.'
Leon threw the spear in a direct motion, while Reiligh dodged at the last instant, using the momentum of his own wind to spin in the air and counterattack with a concentrated blast that struck Leon from the side. The impact threw him against a partially destroyed wall, further increasing the structural damage of the tunnel.
Before Leon could fully recover, Reiligh continued pressing, creating multiple blades coming from different directions, forcing constant defense with fists wrapped in flames. Reiligh was not unharmed either. Small burns were already visible on his arms and torso, the result of proximity to the fire attacks even without being directly hit. His breathing was no longer as stable as before, indicating that maintaining that level of control over the increasingly heated atmosphere required more than it seemed.
"Fighting intelligent and strong opponents is troublesome."
"I just thought that moments ago."
"That's because it's true."
Reiligh's hand became covered in wind, and as he lowered it, a slash appeared among the many blades heading toward Leon. All movement routes had been cut off by the sheer amount of magic attacking from every direction, forcing him to choose.
'I miss my clone ability.'
Using fire on his feet, he created a charged burst of momentum and cut through the wind slash coming toward him. The attack managed to injure him, but Leon closed the distance to Reiligh because of that movement. Catching him off guard, his hand filled with mana and an explosion struck his opponent's face.
"Gahh."
Using wind around his body, he managed to push Leon away with a wind barrier. Without giving up, the fire mage advanced once again, and Reiligh prepared to defend. The fight expanded even further through the underground. Parts of the ceiling collapsed, and the surrounding space became increasingly unstable. The environment no longer fully favored either of them, making the confrontation even more direct.
'I'll have to raise the level.'
Instead of maintaining scattered attacks, Reiligh began concentrating his mana into a single point. The air around him started spinning more intensely, forming a compressed mass that distorted the vision around it.
Noticing this, Leon didn't hesitate. He adjusted the spear, compressing the fire to an even denser level. The flame stopped expanding and instead compressed around the created spear, increasing its intensity at a single point. A second later, Reiligh launched the compressed mass of wind directly at Leon, while Leon advanced with the spear prepared to pierce through the attack.
"Piercing Spear."
The collision between the two forces completely opened up the surrounding space, destroying what remained of the tunnel structure and creating an open area in the underground. The clash generated a pressure wave that pushed both of them away, sending debris in all directions. Leon was pushed back a few meters but managed to keep his balance. Reiligh was launched upward, using his own wind to stabilize his fall.
"You know, I can feel your subordinates struggling against Bastião and Gine, maybe it would be—"
"Stop trying to take advantage of this moment to escape, because I won't allow it."
Leon himself knew that Surfien and Knigrave were likely fighting the other councilors who were also strong, since he had ordered both of them to fight those two, and even told the councilor not to interfere.
"Besides, I don't need to worry about them, because they are strong."