Chapter 776: Grand-finals part 9 |
Proofreader: M_W Miss Fierce
"Are you done looking?" Leo asked after patiently waiting for Osborne to finish observing his surroundings. It wasn't strange for the latter to become suspicious of this kind of thing, especially after all the stuff he did previously. If he was in Osborne's shoes, he would undoubtedly do the same thing as him as well. Better be safe than sorry, right?
However, there is one crucial thing that Osborne had forgotten to consider. Even if he had a scheme in mind, he wouldn't put himself in a similar situation as the latter. Doing that would allow Osborne to prevent him from doing anything, and he'd be helpless to change that.
Honestly speaking, there's actually no scheme in play here. Just like what he had mentioned before, he wants to trade blow for blow and see who can remain standing until the very end.
He might be a schemer, but he had never broken a promise before, just like how he keeps his promise with Osborne to give him the second place. Even though they had long already disbanded their alliance, he still remained true to his words and gave him what he said that he would. Though, that was mainly because he wanted to continue with the previous agreement that he had proposed to Orcborg. After all, he can use this to further strengthen the alliance between the Red Fist Guild and the Mischievous Lion Guild.
"To tell you the truth, you can rest assured that there are no schemes involved this time. I can even guarantee that with my life on the line," Leo said.
Hearing Leo's words, Osborne looked one last time before finally concluding that what the former had said was the truth. He had already observed his surroundings more than ten times, and he still wasn't able to find anything suspicious. If there is really a scheme here, he can only blame himself for not noticing it despite being given plenty of chances to look for it.
Regardless, Osborne believes that the moment Leo tries to do something fishy, he will make sure to prevent the latter from doing it. With how close they are in this small stage, just how difficult could it be to prevent anything from happening, right?
"Everyone has been waiting for a very long time already. So, let's start the fight," Leo said as he raised his hand and prompted Osborne to come at him.
Seeing Osborne's action, Leo didn't hesitate to crouch his body to avoid the former's arms from reaching him.
"Hehe!" Osborne had already expected Leo's action. As such, he raised his right knee and made it strike the latter's head.
However, Leo was similarly expecting such a reaction from Osborne. So, he gripped his Death Wake Dagger sideways and made a slashing motion towards the incoming knee strike.
Slasssh!
A small wound was instantly created on Osborne's knee.
Afterward, using the momentum of his slash, he moves his body to the side, allowing him to narrowly dodge Osborne's knee strike.
Nevertheless, Osborne didn't mind the injury he had just received from Leo, especially with how minor of an injury it was. He quickly stomps his foot that he used for the knee strike to the floor, creating a muffled explosion sound. Soon after, he clasped both of his hands together and smashed them towards Leo.
"You've thoroughly underestimated my capability," Leo muttered under his breath.
Putting some force on both of his legs, Leo jumped sideways to avoid Osborne's attack.
Whooosh!
"Eh?" Osborne was utterly confused about how exactly Leo could dodge from his attack when both of his arms were so close to his body.
"Look in front of you," Leo reminded Osborne. While in the middle of his jumping motion, he raised both of his hands and put them on top of the latter's clasped hand. Exerting all of his force onto his arms, he launches himself above Osborne's head.
Just when Osborne thought that Leo's stunt was over, two hands suddenly clasped his head from both sides. He was only able to notice his head being directed to look below, where he soon after saw a knee strike coming straight at his face.
Boooom!
Osborne's head was flung away to the back, which also caused his body to simultaneously retreat a few meters.
"Shit!" Osborne wiped his nose with his finger and soon noticed blood coming out from it. It was only at this moment that he finally realized that although he had an advantage, Leo likewise also had one himself. The only difference is, he had the advantage in both defense and strength. In contrast, the latter had the advantage in both flexibility and agility.
Even though Leo's attack doesn't cause that much damage to him, Osborne still understood that if he allowed himself to continue withstanding them, it would only take some time before he would lose. After all, he is not in his top shape right now. He is still suffering from the injury caused by Selina before. In addition to that, the last stomp he did just now had further worsened the serious injury of his feet. He even felt more bones breaking inside.
"So, this was the main reason why you are not afraid to have this kind of fight against me," Osborne said.
"Correction, I was never afraid of you," Leo clarified. He continued, "The main reason why I didn't keep on running away was; firstly, to protect my reputation, and lastly, which is also the most important, to give everyone a good show to watch!"
Instantly, the crowd cheered loudly after hearing Guild Leader Loki's words.
However, Osborne could only shake his head, expressing his pity to the spectators. As if he doesn't know that it was only the first reason that really mattered for Leo. The latter definitely only said those lines to improve his image. Anyways, that doesn't really concern him.
Osborne pulled himself together and started thinking of a plan to counter Leo's dexterity and agility. With both of his feet seriously injured, it would be next to impossible to fight in speed against the latter, let alone try to catch him.
But it didn't take that long for Osborne to think of a plan inside his mind. He thought, "Since it's impossible to catch Leo now, then all I have to do is to tire him out until I can catch him,"
With that in mind, Osborne took out his shield once again. He also took out a 1-Star level armor and equipped it to further improve his defensive capability. And to make it even more difficult to hit him, he didn't take out a sword for his weapon. Instead, he grabbed a double-edged axe. With its broad head, he would be able to use it to block Leo's attacks while also using it to launch his own attack as well.
"Opting for defense now, are we?" Leo quickly realized what Osborne intended to do. Well, it doesn't really need someone to be wise to know this, especially with all the items he used to equip himself.
Moreover, Osborne must have realized his disadvantage with their exchange just now. Considering how smart Osborne is, that is indeed expected of him.
However, Osborne shouldn't think that he could defeat him by merely increasing his defensive capability. The former might be harder to hit now, but at the same time, he had gotten even slower than before with how heavy all items he is wearing are. This simply means to say that his own advantage had become even more apparent.
Although, this still doesn't change the fact that it would be difficult to land any attack on Osborne.
"How troublesome," Leo thought to himself. He made sure not to change the expression on his face, so Osborne would believe that his confidence wasn't affected.
"Seeing your expression, I believe you have expected this to happen already," Osborne said with a half-smile on his face.
"I did, but I didn't think that you'd do it this early," Leo said as he waved his left hand, taking out another dagger from his Storage Ring. Needless to say, with Osborne increasing his defensive capability, he naturally needs to improve his offensive capability as well. Otherwise, it would be even more difficult for him with only the Death Wake Dagger around.
"As expected," Osborne was similarly expecting such a reaction from Leo. Honestly, this was actually the main reason he chose to take out a double-edged axe and not a sword so that he could defend himself from two different angles and simultaneously launch an attack in the same manner. He also considered the possibility of the latter throwing his daggers on him. In conclusion, a weapon that he can use to protect himself is perfect to use.
"Now that we have finished analyzing each other. It is now time for the main event," Leo muttered with a mischievous smile on his face.
