17 Battle of the Beasts

While Amon was fighting Stormbringer and the Undying, Bel was facing The Lion. The two of them knew and had struggled against each other once in the past. That was the reason The Lion had singled out Bel at the start of the fight. He wasn't sure that the other two could handle him and so he chose to take care of him on his own. He knew that even if he couldn't bring down Bel, the other two would eventually finish their opponent and support him.

Bel didn't wait for his opponent to make a move and swung his oversized sword. If Amon was a reasonably balanced warrior who possessed great strength, sharp eyesight, and expertise of weapons, Bel was the opposite. He didn't care for technique and only used his monstrous power to dominate his enemies. Even among augmented, Amon had great strength but compared to Bel it was nothing. The disparity between Bel's weak and lean body and his pure power was often something he used to his advantage. However, facing The Lion who knew of his quirks, he couldn't employ such tricks.

Bel's strike hit The Lion's shield with a thunderous sound and sparks flew at the point of impact. Reeling from the shock, The Holy Knight took a step back and readjusted himself for the next incoming strike. Bel's follow up didn't take long to arrive and once again, the sheer power behind his blow pushed The Lion back. The latter knew that he could not keep receiving those kinds of hits forever as either his shield would break from the repeated impacts or his stamina would wear off from the drawn-out fight.

For a third time, Bel swung his sword, but this time, instead of easily predictable overhead slashes, he swept at his shins, left unprotected by the shield. Although his shield partially hindered his vision, The Lion was still able to see Bel's strike, and he hurriedly lowered his guard to block the attack. This move allowed him to keep his legs and presented him with an opportunity for an attack of his own. With Bel's sword so low after his attempt to sever his opponent's legs, he wouldn't be able to lift it back up in time to parry the next attack. As such, The Lion executed a quick thrust at Bel's guts.

Bel managed to move to the side to dodge the attack but he wasn't fast enough, and The Lion's sword grazed his flank. His shirt ripped and revealed the dark-blue vest underneath. The Lion revealed a look of surprise at the body armour but did not let off his assault. Now that he managed to land a hit, he wanted to make full use of his newly gained moment to put pressure on Bel. The latter waited for a chance to strike back and used his superhuman strength to fling The Lion's sword away from his body forcefully. The Lion managed to keep a grip on his weapon, but Bel used that moment of weakness to ram into him. The charge didn't injure The Lion in any way, but it had the effect of slightly moving his shield to the side, revealing his front. With the sword and the shield out of the way, Bel quickly smashed down with his signature overhead slash.

Much to Bel's surprise, even his powerful attack wasn't enough to break The Lion's metal armour, though it left a big dent in it. However, the sheer force behind the oversized sword was enough to force the Holy Knight to take a few steps back to stop himself from violently falling to the ground while he sprayed blood from his mouth. The armour had saved his life, but it couldn't stop Bel's destructive power.

Following up, Bel delivered three consecutive blows to the same spot. After the last strike, Bel could Hear the sound of a rib cracking, and a broad smile crept upon his lips. The armour had yet to be shredded under the brutal battery of blows, and Bel could only appreciate the craftsmanship behind such a piece of armour. The Lion wasn't faring too well after those blows, but he managed to stand his ground, and after he heard his rib cracking, he stabilized his stance and bashed his shield in Bel's face. Even though he was rather agile with his armour, he knew he couldn't compare to Bel, so he had to use his weaponry to his advantage.

To have his barrage disrupted by The Lion's bash had left Bel unsteady on his feet and he could only parry Holy Knight's deadly slash clumsily. When The Lion had noticed Bel's protective vest, he had chosen to ignore that part of his body and to concentrate his attacks elsewhere. Since he was unaware of the vestment's protective properties, he wasn't going to test them in a life and death duel. As such, he chose to aim for Bel's limbs in an attempt to cripple him. His slash was partially parried, but he still managed to slide off of Bel's sword and leave a nasty cut on his right arm.

Bel let out a shout of rage and violently swung his sword and bashed against his opponent's guard. They exchanged hits and parries for a while, and some cuts appeared on Bel's body while The Lion's defence was getting more and more battered. The fight that these two were engaged in was brutal and lacked any finesse, with the two of them only trying to destroy their opponent with brutal force.

While Bel was entangled with his opponent, Amon was shocked to see that The Undying's wounds only sprayed blood for a short instant before miraculously closing. Amon pulled back and narrowly avoided the blow sent his way. He had heard about The Undying regeneration power, but this defied common sense. He had slight the man's throat and struck his heart, lungs and liver. Any of these wounds would have been enough to kill any augmented but it hadn't even managed to slow the Holy Knight, and he had immediately clapped back with a slash of his own.

Amon saw that Stormbringer was getting up again and he pulled out another knife. Amon jumped and kicked the wall. The power behind his kick left a crater in the wall but it also sent Amon flying to the side, and he landed on the table in the middle of the room. The Undying was surprised by Amon's sudden movement, and he couldn't react in time when Amon went past him to attack Stormbringer.

Due to the shorter reach of his weapon, it took a while for Amon's attack to reach Stormbringer, and by this point, he had recovered enough to sidestep the stab. Amon was now flanked by Stormbringer and The Undying, but now that he fought both of them, he was confident he could hold them off. The two Holy Knights simultaneously slashed at Amon, one with a vertical slash and the other with a sweep at waist height.

Time seemed to slow down for Amon as he focused entirely on the incomings slashes. As he brought his concentration to its apex, he felt like he could see the trajectory of the swords and he positioned himself to receive the attacks and make one of the hardest manoeuvres of his life. He raised his knives, one in front of each incoming sword. Using his blades, he parried the Holy Knights at a very peculiar angle. Towards The Undying's slash that was coming horizontally, he blocked by using his knife to lift the blade. At the same time, he used his other knife to push Stormbringer's blade to the side. These two adjustments he had forced on his enemies' attacks wouldn't have been enough to stop them from hitting him, but he had calculated the angles perfectly, and instead of hitting him, the Holy Knights' blade hit each other.

Amon was able to escape the pincer attack by redirecting the incoming blades so that they would hit each other. Such a move might sound simple, but it required quick thinking and extreme precision. Amon's most exceptional talent wasn't his physique or his skill with the blade, but rather his ability to focus and remain calm in a desperate situation. When faced with certain-death scenarios, he always seemed to be able to concentrate and find the one path that would allow him to survive. This talent had once again saved his life and created a golden opportunity. Since he had to crouch slightly to pull off this manoeuvre, he wasn't able to strike too high, so he chose to stab at the guts of the two Holy Knights.

Stormbringer recoiled in pain when he felt the knife penetrate the skin and in that split second he was able to release a small arc of electricity. Due to the suddenness of the attack, he couldn't charge his power and only released a weak arc, however, it was enough to stop the knife from gutting him. On the other side, The Undying didn't even bother dodging and quietly readied another slash.