Dimensional Descent

Elorin didn't get up immediately, listening to the message in complete silence. It was only after an entire half hour that he stood. As he did so, his body seemed to leave afterimages in its wake despite the fact he wasn't moving very fast.

Suddenly, all of those afterimages snapped into one before the process started again, and then again.

Elorin seemed to realize what was happening and shook his head before waving a hand and dispersing the odd Force in the air.

After a yawn, he patted down his still pristinely white tracksuit that didn't have even a slight stain on it despite the fact he had just been lying in the grass and began to walk forward.

Under some mysterious power, he appeared dozens of kilometers away, but somehow still seemed to be standing in place.

Like a rubberband, his afterimage snapped into the distance, fusing with himself dozens of kilometers ahead.

Every step Elorin took, the process repeated until he stepped into the air, shot through the atmosphere, and began to stroll through the depths of space...

"He's been contacted," Raffyr said confidently. "Things will get started now."

**

On Earth, a silent movement began to take place.

At that moment, a familiar young man walked into an estate with slow and deliberate steps. He stood at just over two meters tall and had exceptionally broad shoulders and large palms. Just shaking his hand would make one feel as though you were enveloped by his aura and presence, if not for his sturdy and unbothered demeanor.

Everywhere this young man passed, servants and passersby would respectfully greet him.

This man was none other than James Bennett, a man who could formerly be said to have been the best friend of Leonel, and the very man who had betrayed him not once, but twice, the first being during their Championship game, and the second being during Leonel's escape from the Royal Blue Fort.

Right now, though, James was no longer the James of the past. At the very least, the Bennett family wasn't the Bennett family of the past. Instead, they had regained their title as Governor Duke family following the fall of the Siegfried family.

James' father's plan had worked.

Over 20 years ago, James didn't know why his father had made him go to the Siegfried family and reveal that it had been Leonel who killed their son, Conrad Siegfried. But time had shown that his father was simply far more shrewd than he was.

Conrad was the very young man that Aina had killed the moment Leonel stepped out from his very first Zone, it was an event that had shocked Leonel awake to the fact that the young woman he had been chasing after for so many years wasn't who he had thought she was. But even Leonel couldn't have guessed that this would be the catalyst for the rise of the Bennett family once again.

Just that seed planted so many decades ago led to the fall of the Siegfried.

Learning that Leonel had killed their son had left the Siegfried quite suffocated. Around that time was also the time that news that Leonel was the Prince of the Empire also spread, so how could a mere Governor Duke family dare to lay hands on him?

Without a choice, they could only swallow their dissatisfaction, but it only continued to brew inwardly, especially after the Siegfried family missed their chance to join the Void Palace during the first round.

Back then, Leonel had brought along many of Earth's geniuses with him to Planet Luxnix, but he had never cared to note that the Siegfried family wasn't among them, but James'

father had pulled strings to make certain that things would happen this way.

Of course, the Siegfried family wasn't the only one that lost their opportunity to join as even James didn't join as well, but this result made it look like the Fawkes family had not only condoned the killing of their son, but were even actively trying to suppress them so that they never gained a chance at revenge.

The general population might see Emperor Fawkes as a God, but the noble families knew exactly how ruthless this man could be, this was the very same man who said that they were free to keep hunting his own grandson and that he would reward him if they could pull it off, this was simply not the type of ruler you crossed, and if you managed to get on his bad side, you had to try your best to get out from under his power.

So that was what the Siegfried had done. They thought they had gained an opportunity to flip the tables during the war against the four families, siding with the Laevis family when they thought they had gained a valuable chance.

But in the end, their choice had ruined them, they were entirely crushed and their family was wiped out...

Things wouldn't have happened as smoothly as this, or they would have at least been able to escape and join the remnants of the other families outside of Earth's territory, but as things went, how could James' father let this opportunity slip by?

The Siegfried's family's deeds were reported by none other than the Bennett family, which eventually led a family of Tier 5 officials who had fallen from grace to regain their standing as Governor Dukes, a path that was made easier due to their legacy and the past.

When this had happened, it had been the happiest day of James' life. He had thought that now that the Bennett family had finally regained their honor, he would be free, he could finally live the carefree life he had always wanted to, he could sleep with as many women as he wanted, drink until he couldn't see straight...

Maybe even rekindle his friendship with the person he missed the most in the world, apologizing on his hands and knees if he had to.

But how could things ever be so simple? How could he not have seen that to his father, returning to the status of Governor Duke was just the beginning? To him, nothing was ever enough... Now that they had climbed one peak, he wanted to aim for another...

Today, James' father had called him in once again.

James entered his father's office, feeling the same suffocating pressure he always had. The man now had on a stern expression, the smile he had worn the day he regained his great grandfather's honor long since wiped away.

"It's time," James' father, Governor Duke Bennett spoke evenly. "In three days' time, half of the Slayer Legion will rebel, launching an attack from within the capital."

James' heart skipped a beat.