Dimensional Descent

Leonel returned to the Etching Metal Organization. He thought about going to the Rain family, the last family that had attacked Earth back then, but he decided against it in the end. Unlike the Umbra, Midas, Radix and Florer families, he couldn't promise the Rain family anything that would guarantee their loyalty, they would just be an unwanted variable that might flip at any time.

Although it was impossible to avoid traitors amongst the other families, what Leonel could guarantee was loyalty at the most key positions. This wasn't something he could accomplish with the Rain family.

This was unfortunate. If Leonel could gather up all five of those families, then the Milky Way would have a nice buffer against everyone else.

It had to be remembered that the reason those five families had attacked to begin with was because they controlled the galaxies in the immediate surroundings of Earth. Controlling those five would be as good as ensuring that no one would have easy passage into the Milky Way again, and it also put over 30% of the Three Pillar Sector's galaxies in the palm of Leonel's hand.

Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.

That said, it wasn't all bad.

For one, Leonel would know with 100% certainty where attacks would come from. He would be able to easily filter his enemies toward that direction and thus have the greatest level of preparation. And secondly, if the Rain family did do such a thing, that would give him an above board reason to simply wipe them out.

Leonel stepped foot into the Etching Metal Organization to find a weird atmosphere. When he entered the core regions, he found the reason why quite immediately.

On one side of a long oak forged table, there were five women. The moment Leonel saw them, he nearly choked on air, only because he felt that this situation might very quickly get out of hand.

Three of the women were familiar enough, they were Aina, Yuri and Savahn. This alone was enough for the place to be a powder keg ready to blow. But, usually, due to the fact they were outnumbered, it was a bit easier to manage.

But now these three had gained Aulina and Joyce, two girls Leonel was a bit familiar with. They had followed him to Planet Luxnix back then to participate in the selection. The two were both born on the moon and had the exceptionally pale skin and tall stature that came with it. They were just about as tall as Aina who was already over six feet tall herself.

In these years Leonel was gone, clearly Yuri and Savahn had become close with Aulina and Joyce. The four were in lockstep, and Aina, would of course be on the side of her best friends since childhood. Yuri was her sister and Savahn was her closest friend. These things were inevitable.

On the other side of the table, there were Leonel's brothers.

This much wouldn't be an issue… if Leonel hadn't known about what happened between Raj and Yuri. But worst of all, it seemed that Raj and Yuri weren't the only ones with history.

Joyce was staring at Franco as though he was her mortal enemy. Her fists glowed with a twinkling light before fading and twinkling again. It looked as though she was really thinking about attacking right here and now.

Franco pretended like he didn't see anything, taking a sip at a cup that had little nothing in it. But the sip at the faint strands of droplets remaining seemed to only infuriate everyone else all the more.

If Leonel remembered correctly, Joyce had an odd fist ability that allowed her to accumulate Force and punch it outward. He assumed that this made her Fist Force quite powerful. But what was more poignant was the fact that her ability matched her personality quite well.

The first time she and Franco met, they had been at odds almost immediately. That was because Franco had insisted on Aulina's help during the war against the oceanic beasts. That help had placed Aulina in the line of fire, all to save a few young men she had only just met that day.

Back then, Joyce had threatened Franco with death, but Franco had said that he would have died long ago if Aulina was harmed. Hearing that, Joyce could only let it go.

But it seemed that now she had entirely new reasons to be furious. Leonel, however, didn't feel that this was surprising. Franco was most definitely the most perverted amongst them, but he also acted out on his perverted intentions. Back in the academy, he flew through women as easily as turning the pages of a book.

Unfortunately for him, Joyce didn't seem like the type to docilely let such a thing slide.

At the same time, while Joyce seemed to be deciding whether or not she should commit an act of murder, there was Yuri who said calmly and without the slightest ripple on her face. From the beginning, she didn't send a single glance toward Raj as though they didn't even know each other, and while it was Joyce on the women's side that seemed about to explode, it was Raj on the men's side. He looked like he was a step away from ripping a hole through a wall.

The cherry on top seemed to be Aulina who kept stealing glances toward Allan, but unlike Yuri who was purposely ignoring Raj clearly out of spite, Allan didn't seem to be aware at all, he was entirely focused on a tablet in his hands, calculating several things at once as his fingers flew across the screen.

Every time Aulina saw that he wasn't looking at her, she would dip her head down in disappointment, only to be back to looking at him a half minute later.

While everything seemed to have gone to shit, there was one light on the horizon. Savahn and Joel would smile bitterly toward one another from time to time. As the most level-headed of both groups, the two seemed to have become like two peas in a pod.

In a corner, Milan and Gil were having the times of their lives, their snickers echoing slightly before they covered their mouths.

The moment Leonel entered, all of them looked toward him at once.

Aphestus patted a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck," he said before rushing away.