When Evelyn was still locked in a brutal 4v1 fight, Aric was busy running for his life while shooting at Leone. Every bullet hit its mark but Leone had absurd healing capabilities that made every wound irrelevant.
WHAT THE FUCK AM I EVEN FIGHTING!? This is Kylien Junior? I'm sorry I didn't know I was fighting a literal demon who can heal in an instant.
What can I even do here beside stalling for time!?
Ivy flipped through a thick book about demons,
[So you're not gonna like this but the only way to kill a demon is either killing literally every cell in the body or taking out the heart. Judging from how absurd the strength Leone currently has, I say taking out the heart could be your best bet.]
Aric was dumbfounded from hearing this, How the fuck am I supposed to do that?! What do you want me to do, NUKE him? Oh wait—great idea! Except, you know, that'd also kill EVERYONE IN THIS COUNTRY!
Why the fuck did Seraphina stick me with Mr. Buff-and-Flamefists!? Why couldn't I get Electric Girl!?
Ivy scolded him, [Oh, stop being a whiny bitch. You're sounding like Vayne now. Use your damn magic Aric, why are you solely relying on guns? You'd have won already if this guy wasn't a grandmaster, but guess what? You're here now, so suck it up and win.]
Leone fists had blue flames and he swung like a brute at Aric. Each punch was capable of levelling an entire field and Aric didn't want to find out. He ducked and weaved, using his agility to evade the onslaught while returning fire whenever possible.
Aric's pistol clicked empty as the final round buried itself in Leone's shoulder. The brute staggered and that tiny opening was all Aric needed. He coated his left hand with wind magic, his right with ice and slammed Leone in the face.
Then came a wind-boosted side kick that knocked Leone back.
Leone recovered his balance and healed the gun wound,
"You think you can fight me hand-to-hand, weakling? I'll crush you like an insect!"
Aric genuinely felt offended hearing that,
"What the fuck did you just said? Me? Weakling? In hand to hand combat? Do you even know who the fuck you're talking to?"
Leone didn't bother to reply as he swung his fists at Aric which Aric dodges with ease. To Aric, it was slow. The guy had power, but no real martial arts technique.
"I don't think YOU," Aric said as he grabbed Leone's wrist and slammed a right hook into his nose, "can fight me hand-to-hand." As he followed up with a brutal uppercut that sent Leone stumbling back.
Leone spat out blood from his mouth, "You just got lucky with that!"
Aric rolled his eyes, "Oh really? Aight, catch these fades."
Leone swung but Aric sidestepped effortlessly. Using Leone's momentum against him, he delivered swift jabs to the ribs followed by a sharp uppercut that snapped Leone's head back.
But Leone immediately healed and retaliated with a punch that connected with Aric's jaw. Aric flew a couple meters and had a broken jaw because of it.
UGH. Don't get hit by him. This dude hits like a fucking truck.
Aric quickly healed himself and ran towards him where Leone tried kicking him but Aric dodge and gave a roundhouse kick to Leone's jaw.
Now dazed, Aric grabbed Leone by the face and headbutted him with. Then, channeling wind magic into his palms, he pushed Leone with the wind to create distance and followed it up with a flying side kick that broke Leone's nose.
This made Leone fall and Aric stared down at Leone, "You think you're hot shit you fucking oversized meat boy? You wouldn't even survive in my world for a single day."
I wouldn't survive a day in your world? How the fuck would you even know that?
Leone's earliest memories weren't of laughter or warmth but of cold nights spent huddled in alleyways scavenging for scraps. He watched other children cling to their parents while he had no one. No mother to soothe him when he cried, no father to teach him right from wrong.
Just emptiness and predators who preyed on that emptiness.
When Leone was eight, a group of older boys cornered him in an abandoned warehouse. They didn't just beat him, they violated him. When they were done, they left him bleeding and broken. They warned him not to tell anyone if he valued what little remained of his miserable existence.
He didn't understand why it hurt so much back then; all he knew was that silence became his armour. But silence came at a price, those same boys forced him to do the same to others weaker than him. If he refused, they'd make sure everyone saw him as nothing more than a victim.
A label worse than death in the slums.
So Leone complied, burying any trace of compassion because compassion got you killed out there. And though he wasn't smart, he had brute force in his favour. By 12, he was already big for his age, towering over kids and teenagers. By 16, even grown men thought twice before crossing him.
That raw strength and build caught the attention of SABRES, an underground association notorious for dealing in everything illegal: weapons, drugs, slavery, magic artifacts. To them, Leone was raw material waiting to be forged into a weapon.
He was recruited into SABRES, and it was there that Leone discovered mana and fire. He never knew he had mana all this time but under Kylien's guidance, he learned to channel his mana into his body. With mana, he enhanced his already formidable strength with flames that could melt steel.
Power became his god, his religion and his purpose.
But with power came corruption or perhaps it simply amplified what was already there. As Leone climbed the ranks of SABRES, he indulged in everything. Especially in women. Growing up without a mother or father, he had a deep resentment toward families.
Happy ones especially.
To him, they represented everything he never had. So whenever he encountered a husband and wife together, he made it a point to destroy them. Seduce the wife, humiliate the husband and sometimes killing the husband just for the fun of it. Children weren't spared either as they reminded him of the weak, helpless boy he used to be.
Love was weakness and Leone despised weakness above all else.
His rise through SABRES earned him recognition beyond human circles. Demons took notice of him and offered him a deal. Sacrifice years off his lifespan in exchange for exponential increases in power. Without hesitation, Leone accepted.
What did he care about living long? All he cared was power, sex and murder.
Leone was now furious and grabbed Aric's collar at surprising speed and throw him into a building that caused Aric to have a concussion.
"GAH!" Aric gasped as hid body slowly slid down.
"You think I wouldn't survive a day in your world? You don't know shit about me, boy. You don't know what I've endured, what I've become. I grew up in hell, fought my way out of it and clawed my way to the top."
Leone walked over to Aric, "Do you really think someone like YOU can stand against me? Against someone who's sacrificed EVERYTHING for power?"
He grabbed Aric by the neck, "You're dead! Once I'm done with you, I'll burn this town to the ground. I'll make sure to kill everyone slowly. Starting with you, then the children. And when I'm finished, I'll fuck your wife right in front of your fucking corpse. Understand, Vayne?"
Something inside Aric snapped. It was one thing to threatened a man's wife infront of him, it was another to threatened innocent kids.
The war-torn streets of Earth flashed before his eyes; the cries of innocents caught in crossfire, the faces of kids who never stood a chance against soldiers wielding weapons far beyond their comprehension. The sight of buildings reduced to rubble, families torn apart because someone decided violence was the answer.
Aric now thought in anger, He is willing to kill men, women and even children just because. He profited of them and still wants to kill everyone slowly.
He threatened to fuck my wife infront of me? That's just...fucking rude. And now even kids?
Haha. This guy is fucking irredeemable. He has done this many times. Saying it so easily without so much as a thought, he has done it.
I know he has. I'll kill him. I'll kill this fucking bastard.
"Oh. That's how it is huh? You sacrificed your soul for power just so you could murder children and violate women? I see how it is."
Healing his concussion in seconds, Aric condensed the ice on his fist further and punched his face with a force capable of putting an adult to sleep.
With Leone staggered and his grip loosened, Aric channeled wind magic into his legs and propelled himself forward at nearly the same speed as Leone. He landed a devastating punch coated in super-condensed ice that froze Leone's chest on impact.
Using the momentum he gained from the wind beneath him, he does a spinning side kick to the chest and followed up with a roundhouse kick to the head. Though Aric only had D-rank strength and speed, he made up for it by using wind magic and techniques.
Aric now jumped in the air and thought to himself, Man. Using wind to propel myself and boost my speed. Thank youuuuu, Mr. Shithead for the idea.
Aric came down with a wind-boosted axe kick to Leone's head which made a crack sound. He then followed up with a punch enhanced by wind and ice magic that sent Leone flying through the air and crashing into a building.
His healing was noticeably slower now thanks to all the frost.
Seeing that Leone was way too out of it to immediately recover, Aric walked towards him while manifesting metal rods and pierced Leone's hand, legs and chest.
Aric stood over Leone where the streetlight blinded Leone from seeing Aric's full form but what he did see was the intensity of his gray eyes staring right at him.
"There are fucking lines you don't cross. Threatening to violate my wife? To kill children? You're a sick fucking bastard. I'll make sure your death is slow."
Leone forced his body to move despite the ten-inch rods skewering him. He had a sick grin,
"You can't even kill me. You're a human you understand? You don't know what true power is. I can heal this and be up ba—"
Aric wasn't in the mood to listen to his bullshit. He unloaded an entire magazine into Leone, each shot charged with blue lightning rounds that further slowed his healing.
"I told you, didn't I? I'm going to kill you slowly, you sick bastard."