The Useless Prince Is A Gangster

Leo reached into his item space, pulling out a glowing strength enhancer and an endurance core, their vials shining in the dim forest light. He drank both quickly, the liquid burning down his throat.

[Strength points boosted for 10 minutes.]

[Endurance points boosted for 10 minutes.]

The pack of ten cultists got closer to him. Leo's crimson eyes blazed, but blood trickled from the shallow cut on his shoulder.

"Guard Rin, Nimbus," he commanded. With a low growl rumbling in his chest, the panther padded back to Rin and circled her in a protective manner, his purple eyes fixed on the cultists.

Leo looked into Rin's pink, tear-streaked eyes. With a firm but subdued promise, he said, "Stay right there."

"You won't be touched by anyone again."

With a shaky but defiant voice, Rin stepped forward. "Leon—"

"No," he interrupted, his words piercing with remorse and rage. "I let them get too close once. They have to learn their consequences"

He turned, his voltsteel knuckle gloves creaking as he clenched his fists, his eyes locking onto the cultist who'd struck Rin, the memory of her bloodied lip fueling his rage.

In a flash, a cultist emerged behind Leo, his sword swinging deadly-range toward his neck. Leo disappeared into the shadow, only to reappear behind the attacker.

He sighed, "Turtle faster than you, buddy."

Leo grabbed the cultist's wrist and twisted until bones crunched with a sickening sound. Charged with fire mana, his glove slammed into the cultist's masked face, causing it to burst into pieces of flesh and bone.

The body staggered, trying to heal, but Leo growled, "Not this again." His hand, wrapped in crimson Aura, plunged into the cultist's chest, crushing the glowing mana core inside, the core blasted, burning Leo's hand.

The body slumped, lifeless, blood dripping from Leo's torn glove, mixing with his own.

He raised his bloodied fist towards the remaining cultists with a taunting smirk. "Who's next in line for hell?"

With unnatural, almost otherworldly speed, two cultists struck from the side, their blades slicing toward Leo's thigh and ribs. Leo ignored the pain as the blows grazed him, leaving thin lines of blood.

He grabbed one cultist by the throat, his glove igniting as he smashed it into the mask, caving it in with a fiery explosion that scorched the air.

Using the body as a shield, he blocked the second cultist's dagger, which stabbed into his comrade's back.

Before slamming the mana core of the person he is holding with a vicious, mana-charged blow, Leo's fist crushes the dagger-wielder's shoulder, tears the arm off in a spray of blood, and destroys the core.

Rin's breath caught as she watched the pure violence Leo unleashed, her pink eyes wide with shock. Behind her, Nimbus sat alert.

Rin's thoughts were racing: was this rage triggered by her pain, or was it Leo's resentment of them?

With his longsword raised for a lethal blow that was too quick even for Leo's honed senses, a cultist stalked up behind him. Rin's desperate and piercing voice cut through the confusion. "Behind you, Leonhardt!"

The blade swung down, but before it could hit, a shadow surged from the ground, forming a wraith-like figure that mirrored Leo's form, its crimson eyes glowing with the same intensity. Wielding a blade of pure shadow, the wraith blocked the attack with a loud clang, the longsword sliding off harmlessly.

Rin gasped, staring at the shadow wraith, it's a perfect copy of Leo's. The cultists froze, their white masks hiding their shock as one hissed, "The ruler's shadow…."

Shadow wraith faded with a flicker of dark mana as Leo spun, grabbing the cultist by the throat with a single, iron grip.

"Backstabbing should be better," he growled.

With a snarl, he slammed the cultist into the ground, the impact cracking the dirt and sending a spray of leaves upward. Pinning the man with his knee, Leo drove his voltsteel-gloved fist through the cultist's chest, shattering ribs with a sickening crunch.

The glowing mana core pulsed inside, exposed and weak.

With his blade flashing toward Leo's head, another cultist lunged. As Leo leaned back, a thin line of blood trickled down his face from the sword's grazing of his temple. With a single, flaming blow, he crushed the pinned cultist's mana core, ignoring the sting. The explosion of blood and mana sliced through his glove and into his hand.

Finally, the body went limp, its regeneration halted, and had been dead.

With his sword raised for a fatal blow, the assailant who had sliced Leo's temple charged once more.

Leo caught his wrist mid-strike and twisted until bones snapped. His glove smashed into the cultist's chest with a quick uppercut, breaking ribs and crushing the mana core in a gory explosion.

The four remaining cultists attacked together, moving in a coordinated blur, their unnatural speed aiming to overwhelm him. Leo's fist smashed through one cultist's chest, tearing off an arm in a spray of blood, the limb flung aside as his glove destroyed the core with a fiery explosion.

A second cultist's sword carved a deep gash across Leo's back, blood soaking his dark cloak, but he spun, his fist caving in the man's masked face, the core shattering in a burst of mana and bone.

The tall mage and the skinny one who had slapped Rin were the only two cultists left.

The mage moved forward, his voice accusing, his white mask gleaming in the sunlight. "How are you informed of our weaknesses? Who told you?"

Leo's tone was mocking as he smirked and wiped blood from his temple. "Do you really think I'd reveal my secrets? Keep up dreaming."

A massive surge of dark mana, its edges crackling with energy, rushed toward Leo like a flood as the mage raised his staff. Pain pierced his increased endurance as the force struck him, cutting a deep gash across his chest and soaking his tunic in blood.

Leo staggered but roared, shadow-stepping through the wave, appearing before the mage in a blink.

"You're done," he snarled, his glove smashing into the mage's chest with a fiery explosion, cracking ribs and destroying the mana core.

The mage gasped, his mask clattering to the ground as his lifeless body crumpled, regeneration stopped.

Rin's voice cut through the chaos, sharp with urgency. "Leonhardt, he's getting away!" Her pink eyes were wide, locked on the thin cultist—the one who'd struck her—running through the trees, his form a blur of unnatural speed.

Leo's smirk widened, unperturbed. Elynn, Absolute Bow, he thought.

[Absolute Bow purchased!] Elynn's voice chimed in his mind.

A glowing shard appeared in his hand, and he crushed it, mana forming a sleek, glowing bow. He pulled the string, an arrow forming from pure mana, its tip blazing with fire.

Rin scowled as her voice wavered in uncertainty. "Leonhardt, he's too far! It's impossible to strike him through the trees!"

Leo's red eyes narrowed as he closely followed the cultist's vanishing shape. His voice was low and assured as he said, "Watch me."

He released the arrow, its path bending impossibly, weaving through branches like a guided dart. The cultist fell to his knees as it struck his head with a dull thud. It was dripping blood.

The man clawed at the arrow, yanking it free as his flesh healed, his masked face turning with defiance.

Leo was already there using the shadow step. "You don't get to walk away after touching her," he growled.