Dimensional Descent

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Leonel raised up his hands. "Why all of this animosity?"

Suddenly, Leonel's hands shifted and he pointed his two forefingers up to the sky as he shook his head. He looked as though he was reprimanding Xavnik for being too reckless. What was this, he was still the leader? How was it helpful for him to get so hot-headed?

RUMBLE.

Xavnik only now seemed to realize that there was a storm brewing in the skies. The gloominess of the earlier atmosphere made it easy to ignore, plus it hadn't mattered to him much if it rained or not; what difference did it make?

But once again, seeing Leonel's smiling expression, he began to rethink his whole life. He double-thought and triple-thought through things, his self-doubt creeping up from all corners.

He roared into the skies, his frustration reaching a breaking point as he thrust his spear forward. He seemed to cleave the skies in two, a truly devastating attack that almost threatened to disperse the coming storm above. He didn't seem to care about anything anymore; if he couldn't guess what Leonel would do next, he would just crush it with brute strength. What good were schemes in the face of absolute strength?!

Unfortunately, in his rage, he seemed to have forgotten that Leonel had the Spear Domain Ring. And, even if he hadn't... What good was a spear in the face of a True Spear Sovereign?

The powerful attack that caused the sky and earth below to split suddenly dissipated when he entered the range of Leonel's Absolute Domain. It no longer even had to touch him, collapsing tens of meters away.

Leoenl clicked his tongue. "I tried to warn you."

"YOU-!"

BANG!

Tens of streaks of lightning descended from the skies all at once, bombarding into Xavnik before he could even realize what was happening. He had been so enraged, so infuriated, that he had completely lost himself. His vision had blurred, his only focal point being Leonel himself. But this sort of suffocating reality was exactly what caused him to be a charred mess on the ground.

Xavnik lay in a pit, looking into the skies in a daze.

The attack he had taken just now had been responsible for wiping out several Heir-Grade upgrade challenge armies, except while those had targeted many, he was the only target for this one. It could be said that the fact he was still alive at all was truly a surprise for Leonel, but it wasn't as though this surprise would appear on his face.

To the current Xavnik, Leonel was practically omnipotent. Even to the current Leonel, this was also true. Ever since he had awakened from that odd dream, he felt as though the entire world was nothing more than a joke. He didn't even have to put much effort into crushing his so-called enemies. It only took a few words and Xavnik had become clay puddy in his hands.

The army below found themselves in a state of chaos. Their commander's life and death were unknown to them, and they were now being crushed by wave after wave of what could only be described as suicide bombings. It was truly unlike anything they had ever experienced before.

Under Xavnik's rule, they couldn't remember ever losing. Even against the best geniuses of the Human Domain, they had always had the utmost confidence. They couldn't believe they were losing to a youth they had hardly given any regard to in the past.

The worst part was that he hadn't even lifted a finger. From start to finish, he had only said some words and then pointed to the sky, and now they were actually in this sort of situation.

Suffocating... It was a word that came up again and again, but it was the complete reality.

The members of Xavnik's army, or rather those that had once been a part of it, had retreated far into the distance. Many had escaped outright, looking for places to hide. Although they had left Xavnik, they too had an innate trust in his abilities and as such, many of them had been so certain that he would still win that their only thoughts were of looking for places to hide so that they wouldn't run into him again before the Heir Wars ended.

Only a small percentage remained, either confident in their escape abilities or believing that Xavnik couldn't possibly get them all, especially not without destroying his reputation further. But even these people had still believed he would win... Until now.

They almost couldn't believe the gap. Were they really sure that they were of the same generation? Were they certain that this wasn't an old monster taking over the skin of a youth? Was this really the Littlest Nova?

The Human Domain didn't know how to respond to this situation. They had seen Leonel create miracle after miracle, but it had never been this easy. They didn't know what had happened to Leonel, or maybe that break he took was really exactly what he needed, but they felt that even the current him put the past him to shame.

Leonel took a step and leapt down from the city walls, his expression calm as he came beside the pit that Xavnik was in and then dove within, picking up Third Nova by his neck and holding him up.

The current Xavnik was still in a daze, not quite knowing where he was. Or maybe he did know and simply didn't want to acknowledge it.

"I guess it's best if things end this way, go on your way," Leonel said with a light smile.

His hand moved toward Xavnik's chest to shatter his badge, but at the same time, his gaze flashed with a deep purple light. Clearly, he planned to use the same method he had on Anya's sister to keep Xavnik under his control. He could wrap up these Heir Wars quickly and then take his time to interrogate Xavnik.

Even if Xavnik was in full health, Leonel wouldn't fear doing this. But he had still so diligently taken his time to completely crush and eviscerate Xavnik's psyche, all so that this moment couldn't have been any easier.

Even as he began the process, Xavnik remained in a daze, unable to react, and Leonel knew that he had won.

But at that moment, just when his seal was about to implant itself, Xavnik's shadow moved.

Leonel's pupils constricted as he flashed away, his body vanishing and a clone appearing in its place.

He watched his clone be severed into two and as Xavnik's body was swallowed whole by the shadow and swept away.

He didn't react to this matter very much, looking down at his wrist. He grabbed out with his other hand, catching his severed hand before it could fall to the ground.

Leonel chuckled despite having "lost" a hand. "Well, this is much more interesting."

That shadow had been so well-hidden that even his senses hadn't picked it up. But as well concealed as it was, its speed was even more impressive. His reaction speed was practically second to none, at least within this generation, and he didn't believe that anyone could get by Ancestor Hito's rules. But he had actually still "lost" a hand.

Interesting indeed.