For a few moments, nothing could be seen beyond the swirling haze.
Then the dust gradually parted.
Leoniel stood at the centre of a massive crater, his right arm coated in dense earth law energy as he blocked Gideon's sword with his forearm. His left hand was extended toward the civilians behind him, dozens of earthen barriers spread across the area around them, shielding them from the shockwaves that had torn through the ground and preventing them from being blown away or reduced to bloody paste by the force of the collision.
Leoniel's eyes were cold, his gaze not on Gideon, but on the crest embroidered onto the man's knight uniform, and despite everything happening around him, the memory of the day they had sat together and redesigned that crest surfaced in his mind.
He silently closed his eyes for a moment, then pushed Gideon's sword away with a burst of strength, forcing the knight backwards and making him retreat several steps before he could recover his balance.
