A Random in Re:Zero

Loop 6 - Part 36

Rem smiled, wishing for the day when she could express those emotions, tell Leandro everything she thought of him.

At that moment, a loud bang was heard, followed almost immediately by an earthquake. The sisters exchanged alarmed glances. Unmistakably, they both ran in the same direction, where a large, expanding cloud of dust could be seen.

The explosions continued, in fact, becoming more frequent as the twins approached the epicenter of the phenomenon. Minutes earlier, at a more advanced point in that area, a battle had begun.

Garfiel lunged while using the partial transformation on one of his arms, throwing a brutal blow to which Leandro reacted terrifyingly quickly, moving slightly to dodge the attack without losing momentum. His own punch landed on the tiger boy's face with a crunching sound and sent him spinning vertically. Garfiel didn't even touch the ground before receiving a kick that sent him flying at high speed.

Using the authority of sloth (in its limited form) gave Leandro a significant advantage, but that advantage would vanish if he failed to finish the fight before Garfiel fully transformed into his beast form. Therefore, the black-haired man attacked constantly, overwhelming the demi-human with a barrage of blows.

"You son of a bitch!" The blond covered himself, transforming his arms to use as a shield and pushing Leandro back. With that, he gained a small time window to counterattack, or so he thought, as the dark-haired man dodged his claws and performed a downward attack that sank him into the ground, forming a small crater. Garfiel gasped as his body was completely crushed by an invisible force.

Rolling to the side, the blond man dodged a stomp and responded with a violent kick to Leandro's head, but his leg was stopped with a gesture.

"That damn cheating ability!" Garfiel complained anxiously, his eyes twitching in anticipation of Leandro's retaliation.

As expected, Leandro responded with a ruthless move: he grabbed Garfiel by the neck and, while strangling him, repeatedly slammed his head against the ground, trying to make him faint. Despite Garfiel's efforts, he couldn't break free. Under those conditions, Leandro's strength was far superior.

Garfiel's stamina weakened with each passing second, especially from the impacts on his head and the lack of air reaching his brain. Finally, the dark-haired man released the blond, who had stopped moving and appeared to be unconscious. However, this was nothing more than a ruse.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the demi-human used his blessing to control the earth around him, forming several layers around his body.

"Oh shit, I can't let him hide!"

Leandro became desperate and tried to break the earthen shell, but his strength and weakened authority were not enough to pass through the increasingly thick material.

Inside the formation, Garfiel was curled up in the fetal position, writhing in pain from his wounds, but he had bought himself a little time: that was all he needed to turn into a beast and turn the tide of the battle.

"I'm going to... protect... the Sanctuary!"

In the end, the shell shattered from within, revealing a massive golden tiger that completely overshadowed Leandro's small figure with its shadow. The dark-haired man grimaced in pain at this sight.

"I don't like the kittens of this world. Some freeze you, others destroy you, and some make you doubt your sexual orientation."

"ROOOOAAAAAARRRRR!"

Garfiel let out a beastly roar and lunged at Leandro, brandishing his claws. However, now that Leandro was focused and taking the fight seriously, he was able to dodge the attack with ease, as despite the enormous strength it contained, the movement was somewhat slower and more predictable compared to Garfiel's in his base state.