Endless Leveling Done Right!-Chapter 606: Sword And Shield [Part 2]

Alex observed the strange young man with his old face. Truth be told, he hadn’t expected "him" to exist in the first place.

However, when Lulu and Lala had shown up—and the latter had called him Papa—he had connected the dots easily.

Alex Stratos also existed in Reverse Arcana.

"I have an idea of what you’re thinking," the young man with short black hair and blue eyes said with a smirk.

"Although I don’t want to admit it..." Alex paused, as if at a loss for words. "My past appearance is quite handsome in its own right."

Reverse Alex’s smile immediately disappeared after hearing that. He had assumed that Alex would question his sudden appearance here instead of focusing on his looks.

"I was expecting you to be stupid," Reverse Alex said, struggling to hide his disappointment. "But I didn’t expect you to be THIS stupid."

"How old are you now?" Alex asked. "Nineteen? Twenty?"

Alex wasn’t trying to make friends. Instead, he wanted to know the timeline of Reverse Arcana. If Reverse Alex answered honestly, this piece of information would be helpful to Alex in the long run.

"Nineteen," Reverse Alex replied in a teasing tone. "Does that give you enough of a hint?"

Alex nodded. "Yes. Since Lala has appeared, it means that Latifa has already reached Rank 5 or above in Reverse Arcana."

Confused, Fran glanced at the two young men. The two seemed to know each other.

No.

Fran already knew who the black-haired young man was. She hadn’t been sure earlier, but the other Dim Dim’s appearance had confirmed the stranger’s identity.

"Why are you here?" Alex asked.

"Finally, you’re asking the right question," Reverse Alex sneered. "I came here to tell you that... you SUCK!"

Without warning, Reverse Alex summoned a black blade and unleashed an attack at close range.

However, Alex was already prepared for this to happen.

"Shield Charge!" Alex blocked the black crescent blade aiming for his heart and managed to disperse it.

He then slammed his shield against Reverse Alex, who didn’t resist even as his body was pushed through miles of thicket.

Perhaps neither wanted to fight and involve Fran in their battle.

As for Reverse Dim Dim, it jumped off just before the blade and shield clashed and landed softly on the ground. It shifted its attention to Dim Dim, who was now wearing gangster sunglasses too.

"Kukuku!" Reverse Dim Dim chuckled before pointing at its counterpart.

"Dim Dim!" Dim Dim also stood up straighter and pointed at Reverse Dim Dim, as if to show that it was not the least bit intimidated.

This was a declaration of war.

The two little buns stared at each other for a brief moment before taking out their weapons.

Dim Dim took out a brittle vial while Reverse Dim Dim took out a bomb.

The two jumped at the same time and threw their weapons at each other.

"Dim Dim!" Dim Dim shouted as its brittle vial flew towards the Reverse Dim Dim.

"F*cker," Reverse Dim Dim hissed. An explosion followed as their projectiles smashed into each other.

Fran understood that this was no time to be a spectator. She hurriedly dressed herself, keeping her eye on the two buns the whole time.

The two were now engaged in combat, but Reverse Dim Dim was playing around with Dim Dim. It’s almost like it was giving the Dim Sum God an advantage.

"Dim Dim!" Dim Dim took out its mini megaphone. However, Reverse Dim Dim was not frightened at all. It took out a pair of earmuffs and gestured for Dim Dim to come and get it.

Seeing that its opponent had prepared for this confrontation, Dim Dim returned its megaphone to its dimensional storage. and started throwing brittle vials once more.

The Reverse Dim Dim retaliated with more bombs, triggering a chain of explosions in the forest.

Fran knew who the real Dim Dim was, but she also couldn’t bear to attack the other little bun since it looked exactly like her friend.

"Dim Dim, I’ll help Alex!" Fran said. "Can you handle this?"

""Dim Dim!"" the two little buns replied in unison before glaring at each other once more.

"Dim Dim!"

"F*cker."

Fran left the scene and followed the trail of destruction that the two young men had left behind.

It didn’t take long for her to hear the sound of fighting. In fact, the trees in front of her suddenly collapsed as someone smashed into them.

"Alex!" Fran hurried to the young man wielding Everguard and Sacrament.

"Fran... get out of here," Alex said before wiping the blood seeping out of the corner of his lips.

"I can help you," Fran replied. "Let’s fight together."

Suddenly, she heard someone clap in the distance.

"Let’s fight together," Reverse Alex proposed, still clapping. "It seems that you’re the same even here in this world, Fran. You always stood by my side even when the world became our enemy. That’s why I love you so much."

"You bastard!" Alex forced himself to stand up. "You still haven’t answered my question! Why are you here?"

"You still don’t get it?" Reverse Alex shook his head. "You really are stupid. However, since Fran is here, I’ll spell it for you so even someone as stupid as you can understand—I’m simply here to give you a demonstration."

The black sword in the young man’s hand hummed, perhaps in agreement with its Master’s words.

Everguard also hummed in response to the Black Sword’s challenge.

"Remember this, you stupid, naive child," Reverse Alex said with contempt. "A shield might protect people, but a sword will annihilate all of your enemies and those who stand in your way."

Reverse Alex then swung his sword and blue flames erupted from his body. A few seconds later, a blue dragon appeared from the flames and roared at Alex.

Still, Alex understood that the dragon was mocking him for being helpless.

"Everblade, let’s show this brat just how pitiful and naive he is," Reverse Alex declared as he raised the sword in his hand. The blue dragon merged with his blade, empowering the flames surrounding his body. They now blazed with great intensity.

"Step aside, Fran," Reverse Alex instructed. "I don’t want to hurt you."

"I won’t let you hurt him," Fran replied, taking a fighting stance.

Reverse Alex clicked his tongue. "You already have a shield, and you’re still hiding behind your lover. Is this how you roll, punk?"

"I’m not hiding behind my lover," Alex replied. "We’re fighting together because we trust each other."

"I’ll accept your reasoning," Reverse Alex said. "What I don’t accept is that you still don’t understand the message that I want to convey with this demonstration. Lulu, take Fran away."

"Yes, Master." Lulu suddenly appeared behind Fran. A quick hit to the back of her head, and Fran was out cold.

Latifa’s alter then gave Alex a look of pity before grabbing Fran and teleporting away from the danger zone.

"Obliterate..." Reverse Alex said before swinging his sword. "Azure Dragon Annihilation!" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

A blue beam made of concentrated azure flames clashed directly with the young man, who raised Everguard to defend against the attack.

Everguard increased its size, shielding Alex’s entire body to ensure that he would be protected at all costs.

And yet, they were still being pushed back.

A powerful explosion shook the entire forest. Alex was blasted so far away by the impact that he felt weightless.

As Alex struggled to stay conscious, Lala caught him mid-air and whispered something in his ear.

"Remember this, Papa," Lala whispered. "Sometimes, the only way to win is to..."

Hearing her words, Alex tried to ask a question. But she pressed a finger on his lips.

"You’ll understand when the right time comes nano." Lala smiled. "Stay strong, Papa."

The young lady then kissed Alex’s cheek before closing his unseeing eyes. The young man had already lost consciousness, and yet, his eyes remained open.

Even at the end, he still wanted to ask questions. But no answers would come to him in the darkness.