Dimensional Descent

The middle aged didn't say anything as he vanished entirely. Bright light rebounded and the Spear Domain world trembled. One after another, paths lit up, connecting with Leonel's world and unleashing a tidal wave of Spear Force in all directions.

Leonel's heart skipped several beats. He realized at that moment that several of the dormant paths were connecting as well. At first he was confused until it all clicked.

By targeting Edrym's Spear Domain, he had also gained all of the domains that Edrym had conquered. No, not just Edrym, but whoever had come before him. It was no wonder that the old man was so infuriated, Leonel was basically raiding all of their hard work to this point.

"Hm... I hope the outcome is worth it."

Although Leonel had smiled in the face of the man's provocations, he instinctively knew that that threat hadn't been empty. If all he got out of this was more spears, it would be a great disappointment. He already had more spears than he could use at once, and though it was true that he would gain more insight by absorbing the life's work of more experts, he was already at the point of receiving diminishing returns. There were only so many that he could assimilate at once.

This wasn't to say that it was bad to have so many, in fact it could only be good. The main issue was whether the tradeoff was worth making such an enraged and motivated enemy or not. If spears and memories were all he received, it truly wouldn't be. In fact, all of this would have pretty much been a waste of time, honestly.

The lands below solidified, and worlds of spears appeared before Leonel, their strengths radiating.

Leonel took a breath, feeling a strong sense of pride that seemed to come from nowhere at all. It crept up on him as though it had always been there. It was then that Leonel understood that it came not from him, but rather the Spear Domain ring itself.

After a while, Leonel shook his head. It seemed that this was really all there was to it, how disappointing.

It didn't seem that he had enough strength left to claim another one of the main six. From the feeling within him, his rewards were only enough to assimilate a lesser one.

Leonel randomly chose a path he felt he had just enough left to grasp and targeted it. There was some faint resistance, but it was far weaker and was easily dealt with by Leonel, he coudlnt' even see the figure that appeared clearly.

The size of this one in the end wasn't even 5% of Edrym's, but it still gave Leonel a nice boost and everything settled in.

Leonel felt a rush and an energy seemed to be pulling him away. Looked like the reward accepting process was over. He didn't fight it and let the Spear Domain take him away. If he stayed here without approval, he would have to withstand the pressure himself. If he did something that foolish, he would end up with his consciousness being destroyed and he'd likely die on the spot.

Leonel's vision blurred one more, and then something suddenly caught hold of him. It felt as though a streak of lighting had collided with his mind, but rather than filling him with pain, it instead felt as though he was wide awake, too awake.

He immediately realized that something was changing. A pulsing sensation took hold of the front of his mind, an increased number of folds manifesting and being layered unto one another.

'This..."

Very few would be so hyper aware of this. It was only because of his Ability Index that Leonel knew exactly what was happening, and only because of it that he could clearly feel the changes.

Leonel understood what was happening instantly, his Spear Domain Lineage Factor was evolving. The threshold he needed to reach to display certain abilities was being exponentially lowered, and the abilities that he could already use were beginning to cost him less and less to use.

Right then, Leonel suddenly understood something else.

By passing the tribulation, those with several Spear Domain territories would also undergo this evolution. It was no wonder those few dozen territories were so sturdy. Those must be individuals who had already undergone this process and had solidified their Lineage Factors to an untouchable degree, at least for the past Leonel.

The location was the middle of the battlefield and all seemed to have entered a defined ending. However, at that moment, the sound of a sharpening blade echoed out in all directions.

SHIIING! SHIIING! SHIIING!

Aina's hand lifted of its own accord, the ring on her finger levitating into the air until the golden silhouette of a nude figure appeared in the skies. He seemed to be formed entirely of Spear Force, his body itself exuding a majestic might capable of cutting anything in two.

There was no lack of gazes that turned in that direction, the aura that radiated out from it feeling suffocating to an impossible degree.

Suddenly, a line of Spear Force exploded forth, severing the earth beneath and the skies above.

Unfortunately, the result of this was absolutely shocking. The formation stabilized by the flagship itself was cut in two as though it was nothing more than wet paper, torn to shreds beneath this power.

ROOOOAAAARRRR!

Leonel roared into the skies, gripping his fists as the golden lights that surrounded him concentrated into a radiant crown that rotated about his forehead.

Maia was still exchanging a flurry of blows with Galaeron, both strained and bloody. It looked as though neither would be satisfied until they both died. But the moment Maia saw this, her gaze flashed.

"RETREAT!" She roared at the top of her lungs.

Leonel levitated in the skies in a daze, his eyes unfocused as his aura continued to rise. The Spear Force radiating from him continued to connect the earth and the skies, seemingly only intent on getting stronger without a care for what was around him, even Aina had no choice but to retreat. Leonel seemed to have no idea that he had opened up a chance for his enemies to escape.

**

In an unknown location, a roar laced with far more fury was echoing.

Edrym drove his fist into a pillar that must have been at least a hundred meters deep in diameter, shattering what had stood for countless years in just a single blow.

Not far away, a familiar middle-aged man stood in silence, his expression dark as well. The loss of the Spear Domain ring wasn't just a matter of a lost treasure, it was a loss of countless generations of hard work, losing it was a slap to the face of every warrior that had come before them.

"Who is he?! How dare he?! Does he not understand the rules?!"

Edrym had never been this infuriated before.

"No, he doesn't."

"What?" Edrym's head snapped toward the man.

"I caught a glimpse of his Spear Domain, it only had one Domain and only had the aura of primitive tribulations, no complete tribulations. He is the first of his generation."

Hearing this, Edrym didn't feel any better. In fact, his expression only became worse.

"I recognize the aura, though. They should have a True Sovereign of the Bow already. This is an unexpected variable."

"They have two True Sovereigns now?!"

The man fell into silence. Their world once had three True Sovereigns, but now that was obviously no longer true. This was a huge loss.

Their chance of surviving now...

"The past cannot be changed, focus on the future. When the time comes, your future will be decided by whether or not you can get your own revenge."

The middle-aged man looked toward the skies.

"... There's not much time left... Right now we can only be obedient puppets..."