While Leon was passing the message to do the same thing to all dragons to his replica, Sylas appeared. As expected, he was mad. His glare was powerful enough to make Leon feel shivers.
"Where is she?" Sylas asked.
"In a place, you will never find out," Leon replied.
Those words enraged Sylas even more. It was fine for Leon because he would get time to create the nutrients to completely recover his body. He didn't forget how he survived the fight against Netro, after all. Although he could try to finish off Sylas just like he did it with the angel, it was hard to tell if that would work. Her boss seemed to treasure quite a lot, so, if she keeps healing him with the power of the time, Leon was bound to lose a war of attrition if he goes all-out. His best plan of action was to slowly damage him until his boss gets tired of spending so much mana to keep him well. Or until Ilyana defeats her.
"No… I can't decide things based on outside factors," Leon muttered. "I have to create the conditions I need myself."
The next moment, Sylas didn't make the usual attack. Instead, he pointed his right hand toward Leon and activated some unknown spell. Although Leon's defenses were also activated like usual, it didn't protect him from an instant wave of pain.
Congratulations! The skill Summon Temporal Armor has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Summon Temporal Armor has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Summon Temporal Armor has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
…
In the blink of an eye, Leon felt as if Sylas had attacked him with the power of time again by punching him through shockwaves. However, this time there were no punches… there was nothing, only the pain, and this time, the pain came in a concentrated dose, instead of getting hit in a place a single time and then hit another place. Leon felt as if his whole body was getting hit several times at the same time. As if Sylas had thousands of hands.
"The hell is going on…" Leon muttered in agony.
Leon activated Full-Recover many times and as fast as possible, but that didn't solve the problem. He felt like his spirit had also been damaged, and he had no idea how to heal his spirit. Based on what Ilyana and Sekundez told him, it was probably impossible.
Congratulations! The skill Summon Temporal Armor has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Summon Temporal Armor has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
…
The wave of pain finally ended, but before Leon could even recover from it, it came again. At that point in time, Leon understood what Sylas did. He controlled time and made Leon's body reverse to the moments where he got his by the previous attack, and once that happened, he just did the same thing again. He made Leon's body return to the time where he was damaged…
"How this asshole has so much mana…" Leon bit his lips in annoyance. "That woman is probably feeding him… Still, to think that she could spare so much when she is fighting Ilyana."
That probably wasn't the case. Most likely, she also had a system of batteries like the one Leon was creating with the dragons. That was why she had a massive supply of mana that she could give to Sylas the power to reverse time in several seconds.
Temporal Armor was leveling up at a crazy pace, but by the look of things, Leon's body wouldn't hold up before it reaches a point where his resistance can counter Sylas' time manipulation. If two magic skills have the same level, the balance will break according to the users' intelligence and mentality. Although Leon had much more intelligence, his mentality was weaker. So, most likely, Sylas would have to use more mana, but he still would be able to damage Leon without putting himself at risk. Leon couldn't bet on a stalemate and surprise attack; he also couldn't wait for his replicas to capture enough dragons since Sylas probably have access to a stupidly high mana pool. So, Leon was forced to do something else and fast.
In the end, it was a bit risky, but Leon decided to fight fire with fire. His mastery overtime magic wasn't at the same level as Sylas', but he could compensate for that with something unexpected.
While Leon was being attacked by the effects of time magic that he couldn't prevent or see, he focused his senses to the limit. He couldn't fail because if he fails, Sylas will raise his guard, which would get even more complicated. Still, somehow in that situation, Leon managed to cut his connection with all the pain he was feeling and focused his senses. Then he did it… suddenly, Sylas left arm was sucked by something that he couldn't see or feel, and he lost his focus.
The pain over Leon's body disappeared, but his mind was suddenly overloaded due to the mana depletion. He only used time magic to create the effects of a small black hole that it would appear only in the future, but Leon used almost all his mana to do so. That surprised him but surprised Sylas even more since he now learned that Leon could use magic conceptual attacks.