"Bold speech," Vivienne said with a smirk, her sharp voice cutting through the tense silence.


    "Perhaps we can engrave it on your tombstone when you die. It would be amusing, for I''ll take my dogs on a walk and make them piss on it daily." She said, her words dripped with venom as she levitated gracefully into the air, her robes billowing around her.


    Her hands began to glow with a pulsating golden light, runes forming in the air around her as she prepared her spell.


    Denver wasted no time either as with a determined roar, he rushed forward, his broadsword raised high, as he closed the gap between himself and Leo.


    His intentions were clear….. now that Leo had refused his kindness for a second time, there was not going to be a third.


    With Vivienne in the fray, Denver had the confidence to kill him easily now, and hence he intended to finish this fast.


    ********


    (Leo''s POV)


    Leo''s breath hitched as he assessed the situation, his mind working furiously to calcte his odds.


    ''Two master warriors….'', he thought grimly, his sharp eyes flickering between Denver and Vivienne.


    ''A swordsman who could kill me with a single mistake and a mage who could obliterate me from a distance. If this isn''t checkmate, it''s damn close–'' Leo realized, as he took a few steps back, widening the gap between himself and his opponents.


    He tightened his grip on his daggers, their familiar weight grounding him, as despite the mounting pressure, he couldn''t help but feel a flicker of relief at the sight of Vivienne finally revealing herself.


    ''She''s finally here,'' he thought.


    ''If I can finish this fight, I can finally achieve what I came here for–'' He presumed, as with Vivienne showing herself, all the bigshots within the castle had supposedly made their move.


    Now, if he could take them down, he could win this fight, however, his relief was fleeting.


    Fighting two master warriors was no joke, and although he knew that if he won this fight, he could perhaps go on and finish the mission.


    For now, he could see no roads leading to victory.


    Alone, he could not hope to face the both of them and hence he threw a hopeful nce towards the corner of the battlefield, where Ben and Dumpy were locked in their own skirmish.


    Ben was fighting with precision, cutting through waves of royal soldiers, but the sheer number of enemies kept him too upied to help.


    Dumpy, in his towering form, swung his massive swords to scatter the soldiers, but even the ancient swamp frog seemed overwhelmed by the relentless assault.


    ''No help is going toe from them,'' Leo realized, as in the end, he seemed to be all alone in this endeavour.


    *******


    Denver charged with the force of a storm, his broadsword cleaving the air as he aimed for Leo''s torso.


    Leo ducked low, the de whistling inches above his head, as he retaliated with a quick sh aimed at Denver''s exposed side.


    Denver parried effortlessly, the sh of steel echoing across the courtyard.


    Vivienne, meanwhile, floated higher, her hands weaving intricate patterns in the air as golden light coalesced around her. [Mana Chains], she intoned, her voice resonating with power.


    Golden tendrils of energy shot toward Leo, aiming to bind him in ce as Leo twisted mid-dodge, his movements sharp and precise, but one of the chains grazed his leg, briefly slowing him down.


    -1500


    Denver seized the opportunity, his de descending in a deadly arc, as Leo barely managed to leap backwards, narrowly avoiding the strike, but the de''s sheer force sent a gust of wind so strong that it threw him off bnce.


    *Thud*


    Knocked back on his rear, Leo tried to quickly get back on his feet, however, Denver immediately pressed the advantage, his strikes relentless and heavy, forcing Leo to backpedal.


    ''Fuck my leg feels numb'' Leo thought, as pain shot through Leo''s leg around the area where the chain grazed him, however, he only grit his teeth and continued fighting.


    The chain that hit him, apparently had paralysing properties and it was slowly shutting his leg down.


    ''This is bad….''  he thought, his mind racing as he realized that very soon he would be unable to keep pace with Denver and fall prey to his attacks.


    Still, his assassin''s instincts wouldn''t let him give up. He analyzed every move, every opening, searching for a way to turn the tide.


    But unfortunately, there were none.


    With Denver aggressing and Vivienne covering, Leo had no shot to create an opening worthy enough to exploit, leaving him with one option and one option only.


    ''I need to take Vivienne out first…. But I''ll have only one chance to do so.


    If it works, I can win, if not I''ll fall….'' Leo thought, as he saw just one path to victory in his current situation.


    ncing towards Dumpy, Leo prayed and hoped that the frog would manage to use [Mana Nullification] when he asked him to, as that seemed to be his only road to victory.


    Ever since he came here and found himself trapped in Vivienne''s magic, Leo had been saving Dumpy''s inherent racial move as ast ditch ace to take out Vivienne, and now seemed like the ideal time to do it.


    If he could somehow get close and use mana nullification at the right moment, Leo knew that he could stun Vivienne enough to im her life, however, he would only get one such shot.


    If he failed, Vivienne would pull away and Denver would change from going on the offense to defense, changing the fighting dynamicpletely.


    "You better not fail me boy…." He mumbled, as he beat his numb leg with the blunt side of his dagger to get some blood flowing and charged towards Vivienne while trying to hold Denver back with a bunch of [Shadowbind] chains.


    "Coming for me? How predictable….." Vivienne mused with boredom, as she began casting a defensive spell around herself in anticipation of Leo''s uing attack.