Dimensional Descent

Leonel’s Royal Crest pulsed with a radiant light, a beam of violet piercing right through the skies and shearing apart everything in its path.

A violent upswell filled the clouds and painted their curving outlines, echoes of radiance splintering the wings that blanketed everything to pieces.

With a relaxing of his hand, Leonel allowed the Sylvan Ancestor to fall from his hands, its large body tumbling across the rocks in a pathetic sprawl as he stood to his feet.

His children seemed to understand the assignment, each one using their little hands to grip onto one of his shoulders as he stepped into the skies.

He waved a hand, a bow appearing in his palm as though he had plucked it right out of his Royal Crest.

There was a confident smile on Leonel’s face as he seemed to see the world in a light others couldn’t. There was an anticipation bubbling up in his heart.

He had done everything right. All that was left was to claim victory just like he had every time before.

In every iteration, the Demoness tucked her tail and hid. This time, he knew she would appear. This time, he knew that things would reach their final conclusion.

As for the Minerva?

They were entirely uninteresting to him.

His fingers left blurs in the air as he erupted with a barrage. Streaking lights so numerous and suffocating they overshadowed even the sun in the skies pilfered and plundered.

”There you are.”

Leonel grinned.

He pulled his bow back, its form vanishing into his Royal Crest. With another wave of his hand, his spear took shape. The skies trembled.

”HEY!” Leonel roared out.

James, Milan, and the others, despite the distance separating them, all seemed to grasp Leonel’s words as though they had been spoken right into their ears.

They didn’t reply with much other than a flare of their auras. Pillars of light cut through the air, and Leonel knew they understood his meaning.

Very soon, this would no longer be a joke.

From this moment on, their lives, and those under them, would be up to them to preserve.

SHUUU!

”Mommy!” Leah and Leo called out, their eyes lighting up as yet another pillar took shape, a beam of red descending from the skies. It took what remained of the shattered image of wings and turned them to a bloody, crimson mess.

An angel of a woman descended from on high, a delicate ruby light slowly receding from her hair and wings.

Soon, she landed in front of her husband.

Leonel smiled. ”Took you long enough. Do you know how much of a headache it is babysitting these munchkins?”

Leah blinked and patted her dad’s head. ”Don’t worry, we took care of him, Mommy.”

Aina’s smile bloomed, and she took her little girl into her arms, and then her son. She bundled them up tightly, hugging them so hard they thought they might never breathe again.

Leonel’s laughter filled the skies as he took a step forward. He seemed to phase through his wife and soared high into the skies just as roars filled it.

”GIVE US OUR DAUGHTER BACK!”

It was absolute chaos. It felt like everything was happening all at once, but the voice had barely echoed when it came to an abrupt halt. Leonel hadn’t even been the one to make a move, but a pair of parents Leonel barely recognized as Xara and Lykos—Minerva’s parents—found themselves frozen in the air.

A line of blood appeared down each of their foreheads as Leonel strolled by them, a confident light sparking in his eyes. It seemed that his wife’s strength had improved far more than he assumed. Likewise… he could also guess why that was.

Since that was the case, it seemed that he was going to have to vent on her behalf a bit.

He didn’t care about the Minerva much, but the one thing he would always have the time for was pettiness.

As the skies cleared, the formation of the Minerva torn to shreds, a man with eight golden wings appeared high above it all, his pupils trembling slightly in an attempt to reaffirm their calm.

Leonel could remember the last time he met this man. This Head of the Minerva had the entire world in the palm of his hand. Though cornered by the schemes of a young man far younger and weaker than himself, he still wanted to pretend as though everything was under his control.

A sneer spread across Leonel’s face.

He really hated that arrogant indifference.

Raising his spear, tendrils of Spear Force coalesced in the air.

”How many moves do you think you can last? One?” Leonel asked, taking another step forward. ”Half of one?”

He took another.

Elysium’s gaze sharpened, a golden sword appearing in his palm.

”First it was the Sylvans, and then they sent you. You know, I don’t quite understand it. Did you think I was wasting time here so that you could slowly whittle away my forces?”

Leonel took another step, his spear waving through the air.

Elysium raised his blade to block, but his sword was cut in two down its length, his hand becoming a bloody stump of pouring blood.

The Minerva Head’s eyes bulged, and his jaw clenched in a writhing mass of veins.

”I was actually just waiting for my wife to return.”

Leonel’s spear flickered again, and Elysium’s entire arm soared into the air, the Spear Force of his weapon shattering to pieces beneath the might of his Spear Force.

”You were a pawn back then, and you’re still one now. The question is, who are you a vanguard to?”

Leonel appeared before Elysium, his spear tip thrust through the man’s chest. With a flex of his forearm, he lifted him up and shifted him to the side as though it was less effort than tilting his head to look past him.

”Ah, what a surprise. I thought it was going to be the Invalids again, but they’re still not here, are they? So it’s the Void Race and the Pluto Race, two enemies come to form an alliance just to deal with little ’ol me?”