Leon stood back up and maintained his posture even after the impact to his stomach, blood still dripping from the corner of his mouth as his breathing took a few seconds to stabilize. The heat around his body didn't decrease—on the contrary, it intensified in a more concentrated way, as if it were being compressed to keep his body functional despite the accumulated damage.
'Hehehe, it's so good to face him again.'
Talis didn't advance immediately, taking advantage of Leon's expression and observing his calm reaction while the water around him continued to move constantly, ready to respond to any action. For a brief moment, the two remained in that short interval, both evaluating each other's condition before resuming the exchange.
[Be careful, that blow is deep and you don't have healing magic.]
'I'll just keep cauterizing.'
[That's another stupid problem.]
Leon adjusted his grip on the spear and moved again, closing the distance directly while aiming the weapon's tip at Talis's torso in a fast strike. The water reacted, forming an angled barrier that deflected the attack to the side, but this time Leon didn't follow the usual sequence. He changed the rhythm mid-motion, using the momentum to rotate his body and attack from another angle.
Talis responded by compressing the water around his own body, absorbing part of the impact while stepping back to maintain distance. Even so, the heat partially broke through the defense, hitting his shoulder and leaving another mark that regeneration had to fix.
"You're getting slower."
"And you're taking longer to regenerate."
Both were right. The level of this battle was too high, so fatigue was building quickly. They moved again almost at the same instant. Talis began using water more aggressively, creating compressed currents that moved around Leon not just to attack but to limit his movement, while Leon responded by increasing the heat around his body even further, forcing the environment to react constantly and reducing the stability of the liquid formations. The fight stopped being just a direct exchange and became a contest of space control, each trying to impose their affinity over the other without leaving unnecessary openings.
'He still has the elemental advantage, but I can't let him gain even more advantage from the field.'
Leon vanished from Talis's front and launched a direct attack, which his opponent reacted to in time by summoning a tide, but Leon immediately redirected the movement, using the spear to momentarily trap one of the water structures and advance through the created opening.
The approach was enough to strike Talis with a second spear at his side, tearing part of his defense and causing a deeper cut than before, but the response came instantly—a concentrated water pressure hitting Leon's body and pushing him several meters back, further worsening his condition. The impact didn't knock him down, but it clearly showed the accumulated damage, something that was beginning to affect his movement.
"Can you still keep going in that state?"
"That's not something you need to worry about."
"That's great."
Talis's smile widened as he disappeared and, at extreme speed, landed a punch on Leon's face. At the same instant he was hit, Leon moved his spear upward and pierced part of the water mage's arm. Leon began taking more risks, accepting minor damage to maintain proximity and increase pressure, while Talis maintained environmental control and responded with precise attacks, taking advantage of any exposure. The result was a clear increase in the severity of injuries on both sides.
The ground around them no longer maintained its structure; parts were broken or unstable due to the pressure of both affinities, and the water mixed with heat created an irregular environment that even affected basic movement. Even so, neither of them truly retreated. Leon managed to strike again, this time with the spear's tip partially piercing the defense and burning a larger area of Talis's body—his chest—but in response, he received a sequence of compressed water impacts hitting his side and back, leaving several bleeding holes in his body.
"Fire Lines"
Several lines tried to wrap around Talis, but he used water on his own body and extinguished all the lines that attempted to approach. Leon placed his free hand on his body for a moment, feeling the pain in his stomach increase, but he didn't slow down, maintaining focus on his opponent while forcing his mana beyond a safe level. Talis, on the other hand, was already showing more visible signs of strain in his regeneration—the corrections still happened, but with less efficiency than at the start. Talis pointed his finger at Leon.
"Wouldn't you like to come over to our side?"
"What a stupid question. Of course not."
'Damn… looks like I'll really have to wait.'
Talis snorted before positioning himself to continue the fight. The heat around Leon intensified even more, while the water around Talis moved in a denser and more unstable way, indicating that both were close to using something beyond what they had shown so far. The mana pressure in the environment rose again, making the surrounding space heavier, and for a brief moment, it became clear that the next move would completely change the course of the fight.
"Activate."
Leon adjusted his stance, preparing his body to activate his title, while Talis did the same, the water around him reacting more intensely, as if synchronized with something greater. However, before either of them could take the next step, Talis glanced briefly toward a distant point outside the immediate battlefield. His expression changed slightly, not because of Leon, but because of something only he seemed to perceive.
"Looks like I won't be able to continue now."
"What do you mean?"
Leon was slightly confused but kept his guard up in case it was a trick. The water around Talis began to retract, no longer pressuring the environment like before. Letting out another snort, he focused his gaze on Leon.
"We're not finished yet."
"That's more than obvious."
Talis held his gaze for a moment before taking a step back, the water around him reorganizing in a different way, no longer offensive but focused on movement.
"See you later—and until then, get stronger as always, because I'll do the same."
Without waiting for a response, the water around him expanded briefly and then completely retracted, and in the next instant, his presence disappeared along with the mass of liquid surrounding him, leaving no room for direct pursuit.
'And… he ran away, so I won.'
[Why are you being competitive all of a sudden?]
'He called me his rival first, so I'll treat him as one.'
Placing his hand on his neck, he simply wanted to collapse on the ground and rest, but that damned body seemed unwilling to allow it, as it would be undignified to fall at that moment. This was without a doubt the most difficult opponent so far. The accumulated damage now became more evident without the pressure of the fight, and his breathing still hadn't fully stabilized.
'I want to take a bath.'
[Haha, didn't you already bathe enough in this fight?]
'Shut up.'