As the demon king smiled menacingly and said, "War is coming," Leo—who was levitating—opened his eyes as he noticed a demonic presence. "Gotcha!" he exclaimed. He instantly phased to where the demon was hidden and grabbed him by the neck. "Who sent you? What is your purpose here, and how the fuck did you get here?" Leo demanded.
The demon replied weakly, "Please put me down. I'll answer all your questions. Firstly, I'm sent by the Demon King. Secondly, I'm a messenger and I have a message to deliver to you, and finally, I entered through an unsealed crack, as the dimension wasn't strong enough to hold my master's aura."
"Hmmm, so that's your purpose here?" Leo said as he dropped him. The demon held his neck and muttered, "Damn fuck."
"State your purpose here," Leo ordered. "Umm... I am here on behalf of the Demon King, and I have a letter to read to you:
from the Demon King The Realm of Darkness to Leonard I am a Demon King, so I don't have time for formalities. Thus far, I've seen that you have been training, so the war would be pointless and I won't be entertained. I will give your world a time of peace for twenty years; after that, twenty years, I won't spare you—so be prepared if you don't want your world to be among my list of conquered worlds. That's all from the Demon King. I wish you luck, btw, even though I know you won't be a match for him, so I wish you luck."
Almost immediately, the messenger was swept away by some type of evil force. As Leo muttered to himself, "So the invasion is delayed because I'm training, huh? And I've almost absorbed all the power so far—so I just need to wait a few extra months." Taking a lotus stance, he continued to absorb the power.
Meanwhile, the scene shifted back to Acheron. The humanoid race was already preparing for war. Leo communicated with the first bodyguard and recounted all that had happened so far. When Leo ended the transmission, the first bodyguard relayed the information to all his kind. He instructed them that they should make a special armor and create a new race—one that they would call the Mechas—fighting-driven robots. "The God of Tech will also assist us, and with his help we will innovate, brainstorm, and improve our existence," he declared. The humanoids cheered.
Five months later, the scene shifted back to Leo. He had just finished absorbing the gods' powers and felt the energy coursing through his veins. Then Buddha entered the dimension and said, "Leo, you've just finished absorbing 50 percent of the power and now you need someone to teach you how to use it. With that out of the way, it's time to train."
At that moment, fighting Buddha Wukong jumped into the dimension. Buddha told him to take Leo to that new dimension. Wukong simply grabbed Leo by the neck and casually threw him into another dimension while Buddha smiled calmly, "You're our only hope; Leo, you have to defeat him."
The scene shifted to Wukong. Leo cursed as Wukong said, "Before we start our training, we need to get something off. This dimension is separate from the one you've been in—a year here is like a day in the real world. If you die, you will be revived, and this dimension has unlimited stamina so we can train without getting tired. Let's begin our training."
Leo replied, "Well, robots, get him," as a rift wanted to open. But Wukong laughed, "Hmmm, young generations don't learn, do they? Well, I guess it's going to be the hard way." Wukong snapped his fingers—his system was disabled.
Leo shouted, "What the fuck? I can't access my system! What's wrong, Wukong? Did you do this?"
"Yes, I did. You need to know how to fight without the help of your system in case you meet an opponent who disables it. Let's begin." Wukong then removed his staff from his right ear. Smiling menacingly, he declared, "You do have my powers, so I won't hold back. Get ready, Leo!"
Rushing at him, Wukong landed a blow immediately. Leo died, but Wukong counted, "Three... two... one!" and Leo was revived. Every day, Wukong continued the beat—kill, revive him. As time passed in the real world, ten years elapsed in this dimension. Wukong said to Leo, "So far, you are improving, but this is not enough. You need to be stronger."
Leo now looked wild—his hair was untrimmed and very long, his clothes were torn, and over time his body changed to accommodate his new powers. Now he could grasp how to use his abilities, but Wukong still remained unchanged. In one of their torture training sessions, after Wukong killed him and he was revived, Wukong sat him down and asked, "What's your drive? So far, you haven't changed. If it were others, their will would have been broken, but you are different—and it reminds me of someone whose will is scary."
Leo asked, "Who is that person?"
Wukong answered, "It's irrelevant."
Leo replied, "What keeps me going is my drive to protect my new home, to see my mother, and someday to revive my dad."
"Hmmm, now back to the training session," Wukong said. They continued training until the final day. Leo and Wukong had their last showdown because, in the real world, it was the 31st of Devem—the year before the invasion.
Back to the story, Wukong said, "Kid, now it's time to show me the fruits of your training!"
Leo responded, "I'm far stronger than you think!" Both dashed toward each other. Wukong pulled out his staff and swung it, while Leo materialized a godly tech sword with many transformations, adding a touch of Wukong's power into it. As they clashed, Wukong said, "Now we're on equal footing, yo, kid—you've done well so far."
Leo retorted, "But this isn't enough!" and they both retreated. Wukong then activated 72 transformations, creating 30 clones of himself and 42 clones of Leo, declaring, "This is your final exam—I'm going all out." Leo also activated 72 transformations, creating 42 clones of Wukong and 30 clones of himself. They dashed again as the real Leo and real Wukong led the charge.
They clashed; Wukong shrank and landed a gut blow on Leo, sending him flying. But Leo performed Chromos' time-step, instantly appearing behind Wukong. Wukong laughed and threw his staff; as the staff moved toward the back of Leo, Leo shrank and then gave Wukong a blow to the chin, sending him flying back. The 72 transformations for both ended as Wukong and Leo battled on until they were both near the brink of death.
Wukong said, "Let's finish this, kid!"
Leo replied, "I'm no longer a kid!" In their final clash, Leo used his sword-change ability. His sword shattered reality as a thousand swords surrounded Wukong. Wukong said, "Not bad, kid, but don't think you're the only one who has the power." Wukong's staff contorted into many versions and intercepted Leo's sword.
"Well, let's finish this!" they both shouted as they unleashed their strongest attacks. Wukong's aura materialized into a giant version of himself, and his staff also materialized. Leo materialized himself as a Buddha version. Their materialized forms clashed as Leo declared, "My drive is to protect those close to me!" He managed to overpower Wukong and deliver a devastating gut blow. As Wukong collapsed, Leo, barely standing, pointed his sword at him and said, "Admit defeat!"
Wukong smiled weakly and said, "Kid, you've finally grown."
"I admit defeat," Leo replied.
At that moment, the clock in the real world struck twelve. Leo fainted. Wukong remarked, "This kid—even though he won't stand a chance against Vultra—I think he can at least injure him." Wukong, feeling his organs twist, laughed; he clutched his stomach, lay down, and said, "Let's all enjoy this moment before the great war in our world begins." They both recovered.
The scene shifted back to the gods. They stood before the portal as Wukong and Leo emerged. Wukong gave Buddha a thumbs-up and said, "Go and protect those you love; don't be like me."
Leo instantly shifted into the realm of the mortals. Landing in a desert, he declared, "Now, let's prepare for the war."
The scene shifted to the Demon King, smirking as he rose from his throne. At the same time, both the Demon King and Leo shouted together, "Let the battle begin!"