CHAPTER 203: CHAPTER 203- PERFECTION

Rafael watched in awe, his trembling hands pressed against the ground as the earth pulsed faintly beneath his palms. The battlefield, scorched and frozen in places, now shimmered with soft green light, roots and flowers sprouting where Glain’s power reached. The air felt alive again. Slowly, the wounds on Rafael’s arms began to close, warmth spreading through his body.

He turned his head and saw Joe’s broken form surrounded by glowing vines that wrapped gently around his limbs, mending torn flesh. A few meters away, Julian’s chest rose and fell shallow, but steady as tendrils of nature’s energy flowed into him.

Rafael’s eyes widened. "..Old man," he whispered. "He’s healing us... while fighting?"

The old druid stood alone ahead, his back straight despite the strain, his presence calm amid chaos. The air shimmered around him, heavy with ancient magic.

Leo, watching him, chuckled darkly. "So that’s your trick, old man," he said, raising his hand. "Still pretending to be everyone’s savior?"

Then, with a pulse of light, his armor shifted. Plates of metallic chitin unfolded across his body, gleaming gold and black, shaped like the exoskeleton of a monstrous insect. His arms lengthened, turning into sharp, serrated blades dripping with violet venom. Energy crackled through the air as Leo’s smile widened into something feral.

"I’ve been waiting for this," he said, his voice vibrating with malice. "To finally kill you with my own hands."

Glain met his gaze, unflinching. "You talk too much," he replied evenly. "If it weren’t for the man behind you, I would’ve finished you long ago."

Leo’s grin faded for a brief moment, replaced by cold fury. "You should be grateful, old man. Your hesitation gave birth to a god."

Glain adjusted his stance, his staff glowing faintly green. "Or maybe," he said softly, "my hesitation gave me the chance to see what a stupid brat you’ve become."

Leo growled. "Still mocking me? You think age makes you wise?"

"No," Glain answered, his tone calm but sharp as steel. "Age just makes me used to cleaning up after reckless children."

For a second, silence hung heavy between them. Then Leo lunged, his bladed arm slicing through the air with deadly speed. Glain blocked it with a twisting wall of roots, sparks flying as poison hissed and burned against living wood.

Their gazes locked, one blazing with divine fury, the other steady with human resolve.

And then the battle resumed, fiercer than before.

The ground shook beneath their feet as Leo and Glain clashed again, divine force against ancient nature. Each strike tore the air apart, shockwaves rippling through the ruins. Roots erupted from the ground, twisting like serpents, but Leo’s exoskeletal blades sliced through them with terrifying precision. Poison dripped from his claws, sizzling where it touched the soil.

Glain spun his staff, channeling energy through the earth. The terrain beneath Leo cracked open as vines lunged upward, glowing green and laced with runes. Leo, instead of dodging, grinned. His body shimmered with light, wings of chitin bursting from his back as he darted upward, avoiding the trap.

Leo dove, blades first, aiming for Glain’s heart. The old druid twisted his staff and slammed it into the ground. In an instant, bark-like armor wrapped around his body as roots surged upward, catching Leo’s blade just inches from his chest. The impact sent sparks flying, the force pushing both men back.

Glain’s knees bent slightly from the recoil, but his expression didn’t change. "Too impatient," he muttered.

Leo smirked, baring fanged teeth. "Too old."

They vanished, reappearing in a blur of motion, Leo attacking with blinding speed, Glain countering with precise, economical movements. Every time their attacks met, the air cracked with explosive force.

Leo thrust both arms forward, unleashing a spiral of venomous energy that melted everything it touched. Glain raised his hand and whispered an incantation, the ground beneath him glowed, transforming into a massive tree shield. The toxic blast struck, burning through bark and sap, but the shield held long enough for Glain to counter.

Vines shot out, wrapping around Leo’s limbs, pulling him toward the earth. Glain gripped his staff tighter, his eyes glowing with druidic runes. "You’ve forgotten your roots, boy," he said. "Power without balance always falls."

Leo roared, energy flaring violently. "And you’ve forgotten what it means to evolve!"

With a sudden burst of divine force, he tore through the bindings, sending shards of green light scattering through the battlefield. He lunged again, faster than before, his blade piercing Glain’s shoulder.

Blood splattered.

Glain gritted his teeth but didn’t fall. He seized Leo’s wrist with his bare hand, green light flaring from his palm as the poison was neutralized on contact. The earth beneath them split apart, swallowing their feet as roots and divine tendrils collided like dueling storms.

Both of them stared into each other’s eyes, one burning with arrogance, the other with quiet defiance.

Leo’s divine light flared, scorching the ground as he advanced, relentless, unstoppable. His armor hummed with raw celestial energy, every motion a promise of annihilation.

Glain braced himself, watching closely. His breathing was ragged, but his gaze... calm. Measured. Observing every shift in Leo’s stance, every flicker of energy.

When Leo charged again, Glain didn’t meet brute with brute. He pivoted aside, letting the momentum pass, and slammed his staff into the ground. Vines burst from the earth, not to restrain, but to redirect. They coiled around Leo’s legs for a fraction of a second, twisting his center of gravity.

Leo stumbled, just slightly enough for Glain to strike. The druid’s staff glowed with concentrated nature mana, and he swept it across Leo’s side. The blow didn’t pierce divine armor, but it released a pulse of energy that sent small, razor-thin roots slipping beneath the metal, slicing shallow wounds along Leo’s flesh.

Blood.

For the first time since the fight began, Leo bled.

He froze mid-motion, staring down at the crimson trickling from the edge of his armor. It was a tiny cut, barely anything. But his face darkened as though it were an unforgivable sin.

"You..." he growled, voice low and trembling with rage. "You dare taint the body of a god?"

Glain straightened slowly, leaning on his staff. "Seems your perfection leaks rather easily."

Leo’s aura exploded. The ground beneath him cracked, air bending under divine fury. "You mock divinity?"

"I remind it," Glain said softly, "that even gods bleed when they forget humility."

Leo lunged forward with newfound wrath, his strikes now less precise, fueled by anger instead of control. Glain dodged narrowly, using minimal motion, turning Leo’s aggression against him. Every time Leo swung, the terrain shifted subtly under Glain’s influence, roots bending, soil softening, gusts of wind disrupting balance.

Leo roared in frustration. "Stand still, old man!"

But Glain only smiled faintly, whispering, "Patience isn’t just wisdom, it’s survival."

He then extended his hand, summoning a swarm of glowing spores. They drifted like dust in the light, harmless-looking until they touched Leo’s wounds. The god flinched as the spores sizzled faintly, releasing a stinging burn.

"Poison?" Leo spat. "You think that will harm a god?"

"Not harm," Glain replied. "Control"

Leo’s fury deepened, his blows became heavier, his form shining with divine radiance that forced Glain to brace with both hands. But for every hit Leo landed, Glain found a way to respond, not with equal strength, but with calm mind. He used nature’s resilience, redirecting energy, letting the world itself cushion his defense.

"Perfection breeds blindness. And blindness is the crack where truth slips in."

Leo screamed, divine energy spiraling out of control as he slashed again, trying to erase the "imperfection" Glain had exposed. But the wound, small as it was remained.

And with it, so did Leo’s rage.