Dimensional Descent

Leonel's heart skipped a beat. He could vaguely feel the power of Harmony's strike, but the scariest part about it was the fact that much of it seemed to be hidden in a completely separate dimension. This was an incredibly profound strike, a singular strike that let Leonel know that Harmony's current weapon mastery was even beyond his own despite his own improvement.

Somehow, she had layered her real self and her shadow, attacking at once in both the real world and the Shadow World. As a result, her strike was twice as powerful as it should be.

On top of that, her Force Manipulation had reached a realm where she could fuse her Darkness Force and her Death Pulse Force. One worked in the void, swallowing everything, while the other worked in reality, crumbling all Force it met.

Together, they were too profound for Leonel's current Lotus Domain to undo, and the result…

Leonel shot backward, striking with his fifth and sixth palms at the air to gather up the momentum he needed to move. But even so, he was a step late. The scythe sliced through half of his head and through his chest even as he continued to move backward.

Harmony's gaze was malevolent as she watched Leonel shoot backward. That strike would have been enough to kill any other enemy.

She stood in the skies like a deity, her white hair fluttering and wisps of fog dancing out from the edges of her eyes.

BOOM!

Leonel crashed against the ground, a ghastly wound descended from his forehead down through his chest and even his heart.

Harmony snorted and turned to leave, her anger still not quite satiated. But, she had already wasted enough time here, she needed to leave. However, before she could take a step, a surge of Light Force caused her head to snap back.

Her eyes widened as Leonel stood to his feet, [Instant Recovery] still rotating around him.

As the radiant white gold Force fell onto him, Leonel roared, a pulsing halo appearing above his head and a shining golden spear crown appearing at the center of his forehead.

Leonel's halo began to descend down his body, reaching his feet and bouncing upward to slowly manifest the image of an armor that caused the air to tremble and quake. Bits and pieces of the armor opened and closed as though it was a living, breathing entity, plumes of Force jetting out from its joints and causing space to vibrate.

The armor looked as though it was formed of polished pearls, reflecting a milky whiteness in some regions and a delicate jade color in others. Where Leonel's mouth should be there were pulsing air vents, every time he took a breath, cyclones of wind would form in all directions, causing the runes on the armor to light up as they flooded his body with the vitality it needed.

Leonel held his broken spear in his hands. After a moment, he flipped them into the air, allowing them to vanish into thin air, only to be replaced by a solid black rod.

The Force in the surroundings shook. It felt as though every breath Leonel took, a strong tide would surge toward him as though all the Force in the world was in complete harmony with him.

Leonel spread his arms wide, a tsunami of Force rushing toward him and lifting him into the air as the vents on his armor continued to open and close, their countless moving parts making it look like a true symbiotic existence.

BOOM!

The skies cracked as three shimmering blue stars appeared to Leonel's back. With every rotation, an additional flood of Vital Star Force would fill Leonel's armor, causing the runes to glow with a more permanent light and the pale jade to turn into a royal blue.

Leonel took a step forward and he vanished, when he appeared again, his black rod was already piercing forward. The black fog that perpetually hung around it quaked to life, rotating fiercely and forming a drill bit that sliced space itself apart.

Harmony reacted quickly, swinging her scythe to meet Leonel's spear, but the strength of Leonel's strike caught her completely off guard. For a moment, she thought she was facing someone entirely different, someone with the strength of a descending mountain.

Her body was sent flying. It felt as though their blades had just crossed, but in the single blink of an eye she had already been buried in the earth below, her eyes widened with shock.

The drill on the tip of Leonel's black rod dispersed before accumulating again. A menacing blade formed before it grew explosively in size. In just a breath it had already grown to over half a kilometer long, towering into the skies. It would have completely dwarfed Leonel's figure if not for how bright the blue stars to his back were.

Leonel roared, his Spear Force surging to coat the enormous blade as he swung downward.

There was simply nowhere to dodge.

SCREECH!

Harmony's lips part and she released another devastating banshee-like scream. This time, it left tears in space itself, the rippling lines of sound barrier shattering leaving glass-like shards of space sprinkling out in all directions.

The ground around her shattered and the planet seemed to be on its last legs.

Harmony was swallowed up by the enormous blade, being forced to tunnel through the earth out of no will of her own.

Blood flowed from her lips, but the coldness in her gaze only grew.

With a flash, she vanished, thinking to take Leonel off guard. She appeared right to his side and it was entirely too late to retrieve such a large blade.

However, how could Leonel fall for the same thing twice?

Harmony had only just appeared when she found a fist twisting into her gut. It was almost as though she had delivered herself to be hit.

Plumes of Vital Star Force jetted out from the elbow joints of Leonel's Divine Armor, causing his arm to bulge and his power to skyrocket.

BOOM!

The sound of the collision was akin to a clap of thunder.

Harmony finally felt her ribs shatter, shards of bone skewering her inner organs through.

Leonel's fist twisted once, grinding into her body before she flew out so far that she soared into orbit.

Leonel's Starry Light Domain bloomed, his range expanding by over a thousand times the usual, reaching a point where he was capable of enveloping the entire planet.

His half a kilometer long blade vanished into thin air and he appeared in the depths of space, his hand having grabbed onto a handful of Harmony's hair.

She hung limply, blood falling from her lips in a flood. Her gaze was in somewhat of a daze as her mind turned to fog. She couldn't remember whether she was in battle or not, her pain clouding her thoughts in confusion.

Suddenly, Harmony seemed to snap awake.

"Leave me alone!" she suddenly shrieked.

Leonel thought that she was speaking to him until his lock onto her soul heard something odd.

"You'll lose without me."

The moment the voice that sounded eerily similar to Harmony's sounded, an eruption of white Force surged from her, sending Leonel's hand flying upward. If not for the protection of his armor, he might have lost it entirely along with his arm.

At that moment, Harmony's eyes opened, her gaze sharpening. One of her eyes had lost its whites completely, falling into darkness with irises of dark gold, the other shone a blinding white light with irises of pure gold.

The oppressive aura of a Sovereign descended again…

'Radiance Sovereign!'

Within his helmet, Leonel's brows jumped.