(Sector Eleven Military Base, Planet Nemo, Leo’s POV)
Leo stood in the open courtyard with his arms placed calmly behind his back, his gaze fixed upon the distant sky as dark specks began gathering along the horizon, each one growing larger with every passing second as the thunder of engines rolled across the land like a coming storm.
From afar, they looked like drifting shadows.
However, up close, they were entire fleets of enemy ships.
Dozens of destroyer class battleships closed in formation, their armored hulls shimmering with defensive plating, their cannons already glowing with condensed mana as their targeting systems locked onto the lone figure standing amidst an otherwise dead base.
"Oh thank the stars they came in droves," Leo said, his tone jolly as he watched the sky churn with incoming vessels.
*THRUMM*
The ground beneath him vibrated lightly as the ships repositioned, their engines adjusting to optimal firing range in a disciplined, militaristic dance.
"Fire."
A cold voice echoed through the ships’ internal speakers, as a split second later the horizon lit up.
*BOOOOM*
*BOOOOM*
*BOOOOM*
Entire broadsides of energy shells erupted forward with frightening precision, each blast powerful enough to shred a fortress or obliterate a small city block.
However, Leo remained exactly where he stood, his hands still behind his back, as he watched the attacks come towards him with mild amusement.
"Oh come on lads, give me a real challenge...."
He mocked, as he waited until the last moment before finally moving.
[Storm Flash Traverse]
*FWOOM*
A surge of raw power exploded through his limbs, his muscles tightening, his senses shifting into razor focus as his body became lighter than air.
*ZOOM*
*ZOOM*
*ZOOM*
Moving instantaneously along pre-determined traverse points, he escaped the attacks bound for him, causing the mana cannons to miss.
*KABOOM* *KABOOM*
One moment he stood at the center of the courtyard, and the next, the shells struck the empty ground behind him, exploding into towering pillars of light that vaporized stone and sand but failed to even graze him.
*CRASH*
*THRUMM*
Shockwaves rippled outward, tearing massive trenches across the already damaged base, however, Leo moved through the destruction with an almost casual grace.
He sidestepped one blast, pivoted around another, and ducked beneath a third that shrieked past his hair by mere inches, yet not a single flicker of fear crossed his face.
"Your aim is terrible," He said, chuckling faintly as he watched the ships realign for a second volley.
To them, he was a tiny dot, a nightmare target that the ships were not particularly designed to tackle.
However, to him, they were colossal slow-moving targets with painfully obvious weaknesses that he could exploit with ease.
"Yep, your asses are mine!"
Leo yelped happily, as by the time the destroyers adjusted their aim for a second volley, he had already closed down about 50% of his distance to them.
[Enhance]
[Fade Step]
*Step*
*Blur*
*Step*
He accelerated forward in short bursts that sent cracks spreading beneath each step, his body moving in an erratic pattern that the targeting systems struggled to follow.
"Keep firing! Saturate the field!" a panicked voice shouted through comms, as—
*BOOOOOM*
*BOOOOOM*
More shells rained down, yet Leo threaded through them effortlessly, the world slowing around him as he used [Parallel Processing] to make this process as easy as possible.
"Alright then... let’s start with you—"
He mused as he reached the underbelly of the first ship and flicked his wrists.
*SHING*
A crescent-shaped arc of blade-light shot forward, impossibly sharp and clean, as it moved faster than the massive battleship could hope to react.
*CRRRRRRK*
The slash cut through the destroyer’s lower hull like paper, slicing precisely through the engine section, as a heartbeat later—
*BOOOOM*
The entire rear half of the ship erupted in a violent explosion, flames bursting outward as the vessel lost stability and began spiraling out of the sky.
"That’s tens of thousands dead from one ship alone..."
Leo said, his voice steady, his expression unreadable, as before the burning wreckage even touched the ground, he unleashed the next strike.
*SHING*
*SHING*
*SHING*
Three ranged dagger slashes shot through the air in rapid succession, each one slicing through a different ship’s propulsion chamber, as—
*KA-BOOM*
*BOOOOM*
*CRASH*
Three more destroyers were ripped apart, their flaming carcasses raining debris across the plains as the righteous soldiers inside screamed in helpless terror.
"They brought entire fleets to face me...."
Leo said quietly, his tone sadistically joyful.
"And they will lose entire fleets while facing me."
He proclaimed, as although he destroyed three, there were still a sky full of targets to take down....
A sky full of targets that would help him achieve his required kill count much faster than killing soldiers individually, as it seemed like his provocation had worked exactly as intended.
—--------
(Meanwhile, Commander Yu Zu)
*Rumble*
*THRUMM*
*BOOOOM*
Yu Zu jerked in his restraints as the entire room shook violently, the vibrations travelling up the legs of the chair and rattling straight into his spine, as dust drifted from the ceiling and tiny hairline cracks formed along the metal panels of the interrogation chamber.
"What... what is happening out there..." Yu Zu said, his voice trembling as he stared at the door with wide, frantic eyes.
*BOOM*
Another explosion shook the entire structure, louder than the last, as the floor quivered beneath his bare feet, while faint alarms wailed somewhere deeper in the base.
"Are... are they fighting him already...?" he whispered, his voice breaking as fear and hope tangled painfully inside his chest.
For a fleeting second, hope sparked within him, as he imagined destroyer class ships blasting Leo to ashes, imagined battalions swarming him, imagined someone slicing open his throat and dragging his corpse back in triumph.
"Yes... yes, take him down... kill him... kill that monster..." Yu Zu said, his breathing quickening as he clung desperately to the fantasy.
However, much to his dismay, the explosions did not stop, instead they only grew louder and heavier.
*Boom*
*Booom*
*Boooom*
"No... no this... this is too long..." Yu Zu said, his voice shrinking as the longer the fight lasted, the faster the hope within him crumbled.
"If he were dying... it would not last this long..." he whispered, dread sinking like ice water through his veins.
*BOOOOM*
The ceiling lights flickered.
*CRASH*
Something massive exploded outside.
As Yu Zu’s breath hitched, his heartbeat pounding against his ribs as a horrifying truth crept into his mind.
"They are losing..." he said, the words barely leaving his lips.
"He... he is killing them... he is killing all of them..." Yu Zu murmured, his eyes filling with tears as the shaking grew so intense he feared the entire room might collapse.
"B-but if they can’t stop him, what happens to me?" he whispered, as a cold, suffocating dread swallowed him whole.
A dread that made him wish he were dead, while still being alive.