The speed of the projectile had been much faster than Leon could see with his eyes, even though he had been used to move around two kilometers per second with his buffs active. However, the moment Leon got hit, the shock of the pain sharpened Leon's senses for good and the bad. Leon moved his head and eyes to observe the projectile that hit him. It looked like Leon's Plasma Bullet. Still, Leon couldn't feel the same properties... it looked like it was the perfect form of the attack, where the projectile wouldn't lose energy by emitting heat or anything else, even after ignoring Leon's Mana Armor.
"A laser? Highly concentrated mana attack? Light magic?"
Leon didn't know what that was, but he knew that it was too dangerous since it also cauterized the wound. He used Full-Recover and recovered himself, but Leon immediately paid the price. His body felt a little heavier and sluggish, but Leon ignored that.
"The speed of the attack is too great... I can't react in time if he attacks using that again."
Still, Leon couldn't just chase them from a safe distance, they could find a dungeon and escape from that planet at any moment, and things would become much more dangerous from that moment onward. The only way to solve that as quickly as possible was by taking some risks, and Leon decided to do it.
Leon used Transfer and appeared in front of the man, he moved his arm to grab him by the neck and activated Mana Absorption, but then suddenly, Leon felt his body losing all his mana... it was the effect of the Anti-Mana Field. Instead of grabbing the man's neck, Leon decided to punch it in order to make him suffocate. Without having the power to use mana, active skills, or passive skills. Leon could rely only on his tenacity to kill the man. His fist landed, but it didn't cause damage as Leon had imagined. That man smirked, and everyone started to fall since his Anti-Mana Field was very large.
That man grabbed Leon's left arm and prepared a punch on the right side of Leon's ribcage, but he raised his knee to block it. Leon succeeded, but he felt the power behind the attack... Although that bastard could use some complicated spells, he was stronger physically than Leon.
"Shit... How can he be so physically strong and know Anti-Mana Field?"
The power of the enemy attack made Leon's falling speed increase, so he gained some distance over those six. However, not to the point where he could leave the range of his Anti-Mana Field.
Ten seconds later, everyone landed, and the impact created a wave of dust spreading around. Things couldn't have become worse, Leon was alone, and he couldn't use his magic or mana. Six enemies were in front of him, and all of them were obviously physically stronger... Still, Leon couldn't run away.
Before the dust wave could disappear, Leon heard the footsteps of someone approaching. The first thing he saw was a fist aiming at his face, but he managed to react on time and lower his stance before charging forward and hitting the attacker on the stomach. This time, Leon felt like he had caused some damage. The attacker took several steps backward while holding his stomach, and that confirmed that fact. Two seconds later, the wind finally gets rid of the dust wave, and Leon saw the human in front of him, showing an expression of pain.
"You... how..." The human said.
Leon had no idea, he could feel that he couldn't use magic or any skills, but his body felt light like usual. Perhaps, Ilyana did something, but Leon couldn't feel anything different... in the end, Leon understood that Lion's Pride was still working.
"That, huh..." Leon said.
It was weird that Leon didn't notice that before, but considering that he learned that passive skill in a strange way, it wasn't odd that still could work. Regardless, Leon's best weapons and fighting style were still sealed. Besides, it was clear that despite everything, the rat-men were still physically stronger than him... While that human was recovering, Leon had time to observe them up close from the first time, and he bit his lips. Two adult men and one adult woman... and a little boy and a little girl.
"Shit..." Leon said, visibly conflicted. "You have got to be kidding me."
Those five were heavily armed and protected by several pieces of armor; lances, sword, ax, and bows were their weapons. The very moment the moved just a little bit, Leon pointed his hand toward them. He couldn't use magic, but they didn't notice his bluff.
"Don't move... I don't want to, but I will kill all of you if any of you move," Leon said.
The human finally recovered from Leon's counterattack and glared at him as if she was some piece of shit. Leon himself couldn't help but frown while looking at that, he didn't want to use the concepts of good and evil, but it was clear that that human was doing something immoral by trying to obtain allies on the moment of their weakness.
"Who are you?" Leon asked. "Why are you doing this?"
"I could ask you the same thing," The human said. "Why did you come to this place and are chasing us?"
"Answering a question with another question?" Leon frowned. "You have quite the nerve... I know that you are working for one of the harvesters. I'm asking why you are doing this considering that one of them caused the destruction of Earth."
"The hell are you talking about?" The man said, visibly annoyed. "I'm working with someone who is hunting them."
"What a stupid lie," Leon smirked. "If that were true, would have to come to help those guys much sooner... why did you come only now on their weakened state?"
"Again, I could ask you the same thing," The man said.