Upon noticing that his opponent's reflexes had increased exponentially, Netro didn't let the surprise being shown in his face. Instead of that, he kicked Leon, who was focused on the task of draining his energy. However, before it could even touch the darkness, his feet were repelled by an invisible barrier. Given that each of his attacks could have killed Leon if he were a bit slower, he had expected to see Netro's leg-breaking, but nothing happened. Just like him, Netro was healing himself before the total damage could be caused.
"I just had this idea and decided to put into practice… but I guess I'm not the first to try something like that."
Congratulations! The skill Dragon Force has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Dragon Force has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Dragon Force has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
…
In the end, even though it was a bit more costly in terms of mana, Leon decided to deactivate Dark Aura and use only Reflect Armor alongside Dragon Force. For some reason, Netro was just observing Leon while seeing him using several spells to counter the cost of Dragon Force. As expected, by using the spells like Full-Recover before Leon's body could get damaged, he could nullify even the cost of nutrients he had to consume to heal his body. That way of fighting was as impressive as it was reckless since dozens of thousands of points were constantly used to keep Leon's body at top condition. However, thanks to the fact that they were in a world on the sixth stage of assimilation, Mana Magnetism was a lot more effective than usual.
"Even if that is the case… my body is just of a human, something like this can't be relied upon forever. The fact that he is taking his sweet time to attack proves that."
Even if they might have a similar status, the body of a human and a dragon's body was very different. It was obvious which body was the strongest… Regardless, Leon couldn't let his energy being spent while Netro was just observing him, so he decided to take some risks. Instead of letting the skill active every moment, he decided to use it only when he felt that his life was in danger. That battle was to protect his friends and Earth, but it was also to make him stronger for the final battle that was approaching… Leon couldn't afford to die before he obtains that power.
The very moment Leon canceled Dragon's Aura, Netro disappeared and tried to attack him from behind. Leon countered it by using that spell again, but this time, Netro reacted in time to avoid being touched by Leon. After jumping backward, he just observed his enemy consuming a lot of energy just to have the reflexes to react.
"Son of a bitch… he is waiting to see me destroying myself using all these spells."
Usually, Leon would only last a few seconds while using Dragon's Aura, but thanks to numerous spells that were being used to recover all the energy spent, he could prolong that period. However, it wasn't easy to use those spells so frequently… To make matters worse, Leon knew that Netro wasn't fighting with his full power yet. He still was studying Leon, trying to find his weakness in order to kill him in the most efficient way possible. Just like Leon, Netro was thinking about the future, and he couldn't use all his energy or get beaten up so badly when it was clear that Leon wasn't working alone.
Congratulations! The skill Stone Skin has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Bronze Skin has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Steel Skin has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
…
Although Leon wanted to use his mindscape and make his replica train some skill that would help him defeat Netro, he couldn't obtain any information that might help him. So, his replica was only training the skills that he needed to survive. That alone wasn't enough since time in that world would pass ten times slower than on Earth.
"Well, at least this means that Ilyana can finish things there a lot faster… Maybe I won't win that fast, but as long as I don't lose, Ilyana won't abandon my friends on Earth."
Although being rescued by beauty such as Ilyana would be pretty nice, Leon didn't want to let that happen. He just didn't obtain Lion's Pride by coincidence, after all.
Regardless, it was a bit risky, but Leon's time to scare Netro a little bit. Although it wasn't a good idea to show his hidden cards, he couldn't afford to keep fighting like that without obtaining a single piece of information. So, the very moment Leon deactivated Dragon's Aura. He immediately created a small Dark Sun behind him. As expected, Netro fell for that trap… but when Leon turned around, he only saw his right hand emitting some smoke.
"Hey, hey… are you for real?"
Leon finally caused some damage, but after spending fifty thousand mana points, the wound in Netro's quickly healed. More important than that, Leon was interested in how that bastard destroyed a small sun with his bare hands.
"No… if it were that easy, he would have attacked me soon afterward."
Ilyana had warned Leon, but that opponent was truly several levels above the others. Netro wasn't showing any emotion, and he wasn't underestimating Leon, but he was studying every single part of his fighting styles and spells.
"I suppose it can't be helped… this will be a long battle."