Dimensional Descent

With the distribution of his Nodes, Leonel realized that the Control he had over his body was amplified many times over.

If he wanted to control his digestion, he had a Node there that could be used. If he wanted to control his heart, he had another two Nodes there. If he wanted to control his blood and purify it, he had his kidneys. Even if he wanted to breathe better and react faster, he had Nodes in his lungs and spine.

It wasn’t until now Leonel truly grasped how good his decisions from back then were. At the very least, his Simulations had not failed him and had only proven to be more accurate, an outright miracle considering just how many things he had gotten wrong.

The only shame here was that even Leonel’s passive healing factor was taking forever to bring him back up to speed and he didn’t even have the energy to move. He couldn’t even enjoy his improvements. It just felt like his body was collapsing.

He knew he needed food, but he couldn’t even stand right now, let alone eat. Plus, he wasn’t sure if his stomach could even handle a high dose of food right now because it was among the places in his body that he had flooded with Nodal Pathways.

Leonel had half a mind to use Dream Sense to induce a coma in himself until he could wake up, but his better judgment made him decide against it. Who knew if there other twists waiting for him?

Though Wise Star Order hadn’t explained, Leonel could feel that there was something odd in his body. Part of the reason he had pushed himself so far was to ensure he had gotten it all out, but what had scared him was that even with his senses, he hadn’t been able to detect it.

That mysterious black Force… It was as though it wasn’t there at all. Even when it was floating around Leonel like it had been, even when he could see it with his own eyes, it was as though it was nothing more than a figment of his imagination.

”What was that thing?”

Leonel’s voice came out hoarse. It had no umph to it at all, making it seem like it had been stripped of all of its base.

”Anarchic Force.”

”…”

Leonel didn’t answer for a long while, almost as though he was searing the fear he had felt for that Force in his mind. It seemed capable of swallowing everything. If not for the Cleansing Waters neutralizing it somewhat, he didn’t know what he would have done.

”… I don’t know how my Scarlet Star Force can embody destruction if that thing exists.”

Wise Star Order shook his head. ”It doesn’t destroy. It consumes and erases. At least when you’re destroyed, some semblance of what you once were remains. Broken pieces, ash, a mark in the land… When Anarchic Force moves through, it leaves nothing but the void.”

”The Void Battlefields are filled with that stuff, aren’t they?”

Wise Star Order was taken aback. ”How’d you guess that?”

Leonel wanted to shrug, but he didn’t have the strength to, nor did he want to experience the pain that came with it. His Dreamscape had drawn the conclusion for him.

The speed his mind worked at now was leagues beyond where it had been in the past.

”I felt like your choice of the word void wasn’t coincidence. Plus, if there was anything that could weaken my Ability with its presence alone, it feels like Anarchic Force is it.

”Your Ability is probably something bestowed upon your by the Regulator, right? And I assumed that the only way for that Force to have gotten into my body without my knowledge was as some sort of retaliation by the Regulator. So, making the leap wasn’t too difficult.”

Wise Star Order shook his head. ’This brat got smarter. How annoying.’

”You shouldn’t think of the Regulator as a person.”

”Why not?”

Leonel didn’t refute his Ancestor. He realized after Wise Star Order said it he had subconsciously begun to think of the Regulator as a singular existence.

”Because it’s the pinnacle of arrogance to do so.”

Leonel chuckled, but it quickly turned into a wheezing, coughing hybrid.

”You laugh, but that’s only because you know it’s true. Personifying the will of the universe is just a coping mechanism, it makes you think that you can defeat it and overcome it, when in reality, it gave birth to all that is. The comprehensions you’ve grasped are all innately known by it, the Abilities you’re bestowed are created by it, the Force you use to strengthen yourself it are produced by it…

”Even if it was a person, it would be something beyond a God. The quicker you learn that, the greater chance you’ll have to live.”

A rare solemn tone came from Wise Star Order. He was usually deciding between losing his mind and picking which insult to throw at Leonel next, but this time, he was as serious as he could be.

Leonel fell into a deep silence, his mind wondering from place to place but always seeming to return back to Wise Star Order’s words. The silence between the two lasted hours and maybe even Wise Star Order himself thought that Leonel had just accepted his words and left things alone.

The light of day waned and Aina even came once again. Seeing the situation that Leonel was in, she seemed to be able to tell exactly what he needed at a glance and prepared it. There was a delicate sort of silence between the two as she fed Leonel spoonfuls of soup, not even giving him the chance to reject her kind intentions.

Once she was finished, she smiled and left the room even as the lights of dusk finally faded to black… And it was only then that Leonel spoke words froze Wise Star Order completely.

”If I unite the Dimensional Verse and make the power the Regulator bestows meaningless, wouldn’t I be the Regulator then?”