Dimensional Descent

Leonel stood in silence, his hands clasped behind his back as he stared up into the skies of the Segmented Cube.

He had always found these skies more beautiful than any other, but much more grim at the same time.

On the one hand, they were a truly gorgeous sight to behold. But on the other, he was more keenly aware here that there was nothing beyond it than he was anywhere else.

This Segmented Cube was a world artificially put into a box. Although it felt just as large, if not larger than any other, the idea that there was nothing beyond it was enough to make any man wonder if any of it was worth it.

Then Leonel remembered that Existence was just a slightly larger box and the Northern Star formed its barriers.

Did life have to be infinite for it to have meaning? Probably not. But the idea that the world wasn’t infinite left an odd, sour taste in his mouth.

Leonel could recall all of the iteration memories now. Not all at once as the capacity he would need would be much greater, but he knew enough now to remember that his future self had once checked beyond the bounds of the Northern Star... only to find nothing at all.

Then, he had sat down on a small piece of rock, looking out to the star and having a final drink before he allowed his life to slip away.

Maybe infinite life would only have a purpose if there were infinite things to experience. Otherwise, what would be the point?

If the world was finite, then why have an infinite life?

And by the same token... if you could explore all there was in this finite world, how could you allow yourself to die?

Leonel looked down at his hands, the steady beating of his heart like a delicate pitter-patter of rain in his ears.

The cadence of his heart should have been enough to drown seas and collapse mountains... but to him, it was soft and controlled.

Suddenly, one by one, Leonel’s brothers began to appear around him. Blackstar appeared on his shoulder, his little claws flashing with a silvery-black light. Then came Emna and Kira.

Kira’s spirits were much brighter these days. Second Nova, Auran, had returned, so how could she not be?

Unfortunately, the Auran of now was much different than the Auran she remembered. IIe had always been a man who worked in the shadows, but he had a delicate and caring side to him, not to mention a selfless side.

However, not all reincarnations could go about perfectly.

The way Auran died had left a shadow on his heart that he couldn’t overcome.

Kira recognized this, and she seemed to understand the implications of it as well. Life and death couldn’t be played around with so casually.

But she was still happy nonetheless.

Even if it meant spending her life to help Auran climb out from under that shadow, she would do so.

All of them stood in silence for a long while as though waiting for Leonel to adjust himself. The silence wasn’t awkward, but was instead quite peaceful. The only thing they could feel was the flowing wind...

At that moment, Fifth Nova appeared, holding his Lucerne Hammer.

Leonel didn’t respond to his appearance.

Originally, he had wanted Ramon to stay behind. He was the only one that could help the Morales quickly learn Valor Force. Without it, their progress would plummet, and that would inevitably make Leonel’s army weaker than they could be.

In this case, Anastasia couldn’t help out nearly as much as Ramon could.

However, Leonel understood his decision. Ramon had sworn to himself to personally become stronger, and stepping onto the Idol Battlefield as the creator of a Weapon Force was practically a cheat code to becoming a shocking powerhouse.

He didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

Elthor appeared soon after, resting a saber on his shoulder. He had already abandoned his human form, a mass of white hair fluttering over his body as black-silver chains were linked all around him, formed by his Chaotic Particle Force.

It wasn’t long after that Elorin and Hutch appeared as well.

Leonel had warned them all about the dangers, but they had insisted on being here.

These people... they would be his Generals.

With a step, Leonel vanished from the Segmented Cube and appeared high in the air. He took a breath before his heart began to pulse with a mighty light.

When he had first formed his new Bow and Spear Force, the Idol Battlefield had reacted, coming much closer all of a sudden.

An external observer might think that this was because it was acknowledging him, but the sharper Leonel’s senses became, the more he knew what the truth was...

The Idol Battlefield had been provoked.

His Weapon Forces were too arrogant, claiming to stand above not just their own kind, but all kind. When the Idol Battlefield sensed their creation, it had infuriated the entire battlefield and all the spirits of the predecessors that came before him.

When Leonel came to realize this, he was no longer in a rush to enter the battlefield. He would likely just be sending himself off to his death if he went too early. But now...

He had no choice whatsoever.

Maybe it was even the case that the Demoness felt he wouldn’t dare to do this precisely because it would mean poking at a bear he couldn’t afford to be even near.

But...

Leonel grabbed at the air. A surging color poured through his veins as his Innate Node pulsed, flooding his body with its energy.

A spear formed in one hand, howling to the skies above.

But then, he grabbed out again. His fingers seemed to be traveling through a river of time as the air rippled, forming a bow.

Halos shone to life on Leonel’s wrists and a crown appeared above his head, his King Force roaring

to the skies.

The entirety of Existence turned dark.