Chapter 110 : Atilans Lake (1)
Chapter 110: Atilans Lake (1)
Splash-!!
The moment he entered the lake, an icy chill seemed to seep deep into his bones.
Leon frowned.
‘I expected it, but this is worse than I thought.’
Despite it not even being winter, the lake in the north was unbelievably cold.
Fortunately, he was protecting his body with his internal energy.
Had he been an ordinary person incapable of using internal energy, his heart would've stopped the instant he entered.
‘Adam and Elsa... They've already gone deeper.’
Looking down, Leon saw that Adam and Elsa were already diving downward at tremendous speed.
The frantic kicking of their legs made it obvious they wanted to get out of this lake as quickly as possible.
Leon felt the same way.
‘There's no time to waste. Let's get this over with.’
At the same time, Leon kicked off and descended toward the bottom of the lake.
Half a quarter-hour later.
Leon still hadn't reached the lakebed.
He frowned thoughtfully.
‘It's much deeper than I expected. I've descended over fifty zhang already, and I still can't see the bottom.’
Leon looked toward Adam and Elsa ahead of him.
Surely they found it just as strange.
Yet neither of them showed even the slightest hesitation as they continued swimming downward.
‘I'm starting to run out of breath...’
Surely he wasn't about to drown in a place like this?
Even he found the thought ridiculous.
A Supreme Master drowning while diving into a lake?
Even in the Martial World, that would've been too absurd to become a story.
After all, who in the world was foolish enough to die while swimming in a lake?
Although an inexplicable sense of unease lingered in his heart, Leon dismissed it as needless worry and kicked his legs even harder.
Another half quarter-hour passed.
Now he truly felt as though he was about to suffocate.
Gathering internal energy at his fingertips, Leon flicked it toward Adam.
Bang-!!
The water greatly weakened its force.
However, the technique was none other than the Divine Finger Flick Technique.
No matter how focused Adam was on swimming, there was no way he'd fail to notice such a subtle fluctuation of energy.
“Gurgle?”
Just as expected, Adam turned around with a puzzled look.
Leon immediately grabbed his own throat with both hands and gestured.
‘I'm going to suffocate.’
‘Can't you hold out a little longer?’
‘I think I can... barely. But why?’
‘Just a little farther. If you can endure it, keep going.’
Leon frowned.
He'd gone through all that effort to explain his condition...
And Adam's response was simply to endure a little longer.
‘Being the youngest really is a crime.’
Still, Adam wasn't someone who lied.
Nor was he someone who would recklessly push beyond his limits.
For now...
All Leon could do was trust him.
A little more time passed.
Just as Leon truly thought he couldn't endure any longer...
He saw light.
‘Wait... light?’
Until just a moment ago, the lake had been so dark he couldn't even see an inch ahead.
But now...
Focusing on the source of the light, Leon discovered a glowing stone resting at the bottom of the lake.
Just as he wondered what it was—
Adam casually tapped the glowing stone.
The next instant—
Rumbleeeee-!!!
The moment the luminous stone was touched, the surrounding earth began to tremble before collapsing inward.
There was an empty space beneath it.
The lake water immediately began rushing into it.
Roooooar-!!!
A massive whirlpool formed beneath the previously calm lake.
Leon stared at Adam in astonishment.
Adam simply thumped his chest with one hand and grinned.
The smile seemed to say—
See?
Father always exceeds my expectations.
Leon smacked his forehead.
‘So that's what he meant...’
Just as Leon laughed in disbelief—
The whirlpool swallowed him whole.
Allowing himself to be carried by the current, Leon naturally arrived inside the hidden space below.
Whoosh-!!
Breaking free of the torrent, Leon looked around and muttered,
“Where is this?”
To his surprise...
There was an enormous space beneath the lake.
At a glance alone, it was nearly the size of a city.
Leon spoke in confusion.
“Why is there a place like this beneath a lake?”
“I told you. That's Father for you.”
Adam stood up beside him.
“Stay alert.
You don't know this, Leon, but Father likes giving his children trials.
This is probably another one.”
“A trial?”
“A while back, we even fought a Hydra.”
“…Isn't that a legendary magical beast?”
“It exists.
Thanks to that, I'm now immune to practically every poison.
Right, Elsa?”
Leon turned toward Elsa.
As if answering his unspoken question, she nodded pitifully.
“We really suffered.
But it's fine now.
We've finally got another companion.”
Her eyes gleamed with unsettling excitement.
“Now it's your turn to suffer too, Leon.
You have no idea how difficult Father's trials are.
You'll find out this time.”
“……”
Leon nodded awkwardly.
This was the first time he'd ever seen Elsa like this.
Her eyes practically glistened with madness.
Had she not been family, he would've instinctively drawn his sword.
‘If they really fought a Hydra...
Then perhaps this reaction is only natural.’
A Hydra was a serpent-type magical beast with nine heads.
Its venom wasn't even comparable to the Basilisk Leon had fought before.
‘So Brother and Sister have developed incredible resistance to poison?’
Otherwise, defeating a Hydra would've been impossible.
‘In any case, I understand now.
Father's trials are no joke.’
If fighting a legendary Hydra had been one of Father's trials...
Then this one wouldn't be easy either.
-Ppyubi?
Just then.
A gigantic silhouette appeared in the distance.
Slowly revealing itself...
It turned out to be a humanoid golem.
“So that's Father's trial this time?”
Adam muttered while looking at the golem.
His eyes were filled with a level of tension Leon had never seen before.
Leon asked,
“Is it strong?”
“No idea.
But one thing's certain.
It's definitely not on our side.
See what's behind it?”
Leon shaded his eyes with one hand and looked past the golem.
“Hm. There's a chest about the size of a person's torso.”
“That probably contains the item Father hid.”
“I see.”
Leon nodded and drew his sword.
The blue blade shimmered brilliantly.
Pointing it at the golem, he declared,
“Then we'd better deal with it quickly.”
-Ppyubi?
At that moment, the golem standing before Leon tilted its head.
He hadn't noticed from afar...
But it was enormous.
Over seven feet tall and weighing well over two hundred geun.
Leon's eyes widened.
‘When did it get here?’
Just moments ago, the golem had been over twenty zhang away.
Yet somehow...
It was now standing right before him.
‘How...?
I didn't even blink.’
Before Leon could process what had happened—
The golem raised one arm.
Instinctively, Leon crossed both arms in front of himself.
It was pure reflex.
And an incredibly wise one.
Boom-!!!
The golem's arm struck Leon at a speed beyond his perception.
A violent shock twisted his internal organs.
He had clearly blocked the attack with his arms.
Yet the impact penetrated deep into his body, shaking every organ inside him.
Even more astonishing...
His arms were completely unharmed.
He'd blocked it with them, yet the attack bypassed them entirely and assaulted his insides.
How was that even possible?
‘Is this the profound principle of Internal Force Transmission?’
It differed completely from what Indra had taught him.
Indra had merely shown Leon how to utilize the strength he had been wasting.
He had never taught him how to make that force spread internally.
In other words...
This golem understood the principles of martial arts.
-Ppyubi?
The golem tilted its head again.
It stared intently at Leon, seemingly puzzled as to how he'd survived.
Leon grinned.
“Is now really the time to be staring at me?
Keep leaving yourself open like that, and you'll regret it.”
Boom-!!!
At that very moment, Adam brought his axe crashing down onto the golem's head.
The strike was wrapped in an energy unlike ordinary mana.
Force.
Boom-!!
A deafening explosion erupted, followed by a violent shockwave bursting outward.
It felt as though lightning had struck right in front of them.
“Well...”
Adam spoke with an awkward expression.
“I didn't expect it to survive that.”
-Ppyubi.
Boom-!!
The golem's fist slammed into Adam's abdomen.
Blood sprayed from Adam's mouth as he was blasted backward.
Whoooosh-!!
His body shot away at terrifying speed.
Even while flying backward, Adam shouted in disbelief,
“What the hell?!
Leon, how did you survive that kind of strength?!”
“I don't know.”
At the same time, Leon's sword shot forward like a beam of light.
Tracing a perfect arc...
His blade aimed directly for the golem's heart.
Clang-!!!
But there was no way a golem that had endured Force could be cut down by Leon's sword.
As if it wasn't even worth blocking, the golem simply took the strike head-on before driving its knee into Leon's chin.
Boom-!!
The impact traveled through his jaw and rattled his brain.
Enduring it through gritted teeth, Leon glared at the golem with bloodshot eyes.
The golem, however, acted as though everything was a waste of time and punched Leon square in the face.
Bang-!!
A scorching impact exploded across his face as Leon's body flew backward.
Every attack came at a speed beyond what he could even perceive.
Despair welled up inside him.
He had believed he'd grown tremendously.
Yet compared to a true powerhouse...
He was still lacking.
But he couldn't give up yet.
Leon halted his flight and regained his balance.
‘Pulling my chin in softened the impact, but my vision's still spinning.
If I'd been alone...
I'd have been killed instantly.’
Fortunately...
He wasn't alone.
His siblings were here to buy him time while he recovered.
Closing his eyes briefly, Leon thought.
‘At my current level, I can't even see its movements.
Judging by how Brother and Sister are struggling too...
You'd need to be at least at the Transcendent Realm to fight it properly.’
Someone like him—
Who had only just reached the Supreme Realm—
Had no place in this battle.
‘I could leave everything to them...
But that's not my style.’
Leon opened his eyes.
Battle intent blazed within them.
His heart burned fiercely as he watched the terrifying exchange between true powerhouses.
‘One strike.
I'll bet everything on a single strike.’
Fortunately...
Leon possessed a martial art specialized in gathering power.
He pushed the Four Seasons Nebula Art to its absolute limit.
His body, now far stronger than before, accepted an amount of internal energy incomparable to what it could years ago.
Every bit of that energy flowed into his sword.
Moreover...
His weapon was no longer an ordinary steel blade.
The Cosmos Sword, forged entirely from pure Atilans' Tear, possessed durability unmatched by any sword on the continent.
As a result...
Leon poured more power into it than he had ever imagined possible.
‘A superior weapon really does change the way you fight.’
He instinctively understood.
The Cosmos Sword was truly sturdy enough to contain an almost limitless amount of energy.
Gathering power...
Leon patiently waited for a single opening.
No matter who they were...
Everyone let their guard down for an instant.
Why should a pile of scrap metal be any different?
Like a predator stalking its prey...
Leon silently waited for the perfect moment.
Then—
After gathering more and more power—
‘Now!!’
Leon spotted the golem's opening and immediately launched himself forward.