However, contrary to Izeal's expectations, there was no surprise attack. His first clash with Leon went without interruptions. But because he had reserved a bit of his attention and strength for retaliating against a surprise attack, he was not able to bring his full might against Leon.
BOOM!
A world shattering collision occurred, shaking the foundation of space around the two of them. Leon did not get pushed back, the boundless energy within his body surging out to meet the malevolent one that surged out of Izeal.
"Haha! A powerful body that will soon be mine!" Izeal bellowed as he reared back, his face distorting into that of a reptile's which breathed flames that were imbued with the power of Laws.
Leon's eyes flashed with a purple light that weakened the flames. Even though the flames danced on his body, they were unable to harm him. A green light flashed next, causing the skin and flesh on the body of the Paragon of Undeath to suddenly begin to show signs of weakness and decay.
"Tch!" The scales and skin that covered him began to morph, turning denser and stronger, into a form of armor that was affected less by the effects of the Rot that had been caused by Leon's abilities. However, he was not able to completely get rid of it.
"You have an impressive variety of abilities, Leon. However, the means I have at my fingertips far exceed yours! I have devoured dozens of powerful being like you, all thinking they can escape from my clutches!" Izeal's eyes flashed as he released a pulse of black, devious energy that forced Leon to back off, giving him the chance to undergo a massive transformation.
From a humanoid being, his figure rapidly morphed into a massive blob of dark flesh with jagged lines of energy throbbing through it. Dozens of tentacles protruded from this blob, flailing around randomly.
Both sides dodged and tanked a lot of exotic attacks that could deal severe damage or even instantly kill a normal Major God. Leon winced as he felt a deep pain within his bones after being subjected to the withering aura of one of Izeal's powers, but he quickly responded with a Rot-filled gaze that caused the skin and flesh of the enemy True God to experience great decay.
Crack!
A spear of darkness appeared behind Leon and stabbed through his torso, but his bones simply fell apart and dispersed before converging elsewhere and reforming his body. He turned around to send a withering glare in the direction of one of the True Gods that Izeal had brought along. The True God had taken a brief opportunity that he had found and tossed a spear at Leon to disrupt his battle.
This interruption was enough for Izeal to make his next move.
The massive tentacled abomination burst apart! A massive cloud of thick black smoke instantly engulfed Leon. However, this smoke was not ordinary. It began to cling to his bones and body in a way that alarmed him.
Whoosh!
Waves of black flames burst from Leon's body, burning away the tangible darkness that had latched onto his bones. What he saw was not pleasant.
In the short time that the darkness had latched onto his arms, tiny portions of his fine and incredibly durable Obsidian Bones had been eroded!
This strange and incredibly concerning event sent Leon into a stunned silence. The black flames on his body continued to burn and rage, not allowing any of the tangible darkness to settle, but the darkness only kept on accumulating and rising in quantity. It had already swallowed up Leon and left no opening that he could use to escape.