The clash erupted in a fraction of a heartbeat. Kenji didn't just strike; he dissolved into a blinding golden streak, unleashing twenty-five sacred sword slashes within a literal zero-second interval. It was an absolute phenomenon of pure speed, a barrage that should have carved any mortal to ribbons.
Yet, Leo didn't even draw a weapon.
Flowing through the spatial vectors like a ghost, Leo effortlessly slipped through every single arc of light without a single scratch. Before Kenji could even reset his stance, Leo counterattacked. Four brutal, heavy punches landed in rapid succession—one to the ribs, one to the head, one to the shoulder, and a crushing blow straight to the stomach. The sheer kinetic impact rattled Kenji's bones, catching the Hero completely off guard as he coughed up a spray of blood.
Leo stepped back, casually adjusting his snow-white cuffs with an expression of profound disappointment. "Is this the pinnacle of surface heroics?" he murmured, his voice dripping with condescension. "You are nowhere near worthy of forcing me to draw my blade, mortal insect."
Wiping the crimson trickling from his mouth, Kenji's eyes burned with incandescent rage. He gripped the hilt of the Holy Sword until his knuckles turned white. "Stop holding back, you arrogant bastard!" Kenji bellowed, his voice echoing off the cavernous walls. "Fight me with everything you've got!"
Leo merely sneered, his pupil-less eyes narrowing with utter disdain. "As you wish."
In an instant, Leo vanished. He reappeared directly inside Kenji's guard, driving a bone-shattering knee strike straight into the Hero's midsection, immediately following it up with a brutal roundhouse kick to the face. The raw force sent Kenji flying backward across the altar chamber like a broken projectile.
Before Kenji's body could even touch the ground, Leo accelerated again, moving at a speed that defied the laws of physics. His movement spell had a literal zero-second casting time, a continuous spatial acceleration that allowed him to stack infinite momentum instantly, arriving at Kenji's landing trajectory before the Hero could hit the stone floor.
Leo raised his palm to deliver the lethal strike—but his body abruptly seized in mid-air.
A brilliant, geometric matrix of divine runes exploded across the floor beneath them, locking the ambient mana in place. Kenji had activated his supreme blessing: Divine Absolute Seal. Though Leo's acceleration spell cast instantly, its underlying mechanism relied on continuous spatial momentum manipulation. Kenji's blessing completely froze the spatial acceleration vectors, causing Leo's movement rhythm to violently stutter and come to a dead halt.
Leo's eyes widened in rare, genuine shock as his momentum completely collapsed.
Capitalizing on the frozen frame, Kenji twisted his body in mid-air, utilizing the recoil to hurl himself forward. He drove a crushing, heavy boot straight into Leo's chest, sending the white-haired officer skidding backward across the stone floor.
Kenji landed on his feet, his Holy Sword glowing with fierce, unyielding light as he glared at the stunned cultist. "You talk big for a parasite hiding behind cheap spatial tricks!" Kenji declared, his voice ringing with absolute authority. "Without your little acceleration toys, you're nowhere near my level!"