Dimensional Descent

Aina appeared by Leonel's side. She knew him well enough to know why the smile had disappeared from his face even if he didn't spell it out for her.

After the matters related to what seemed like Leonel's future self, he had been entirely carefree. But in these last three days, he had become serious once more, entirely silent and unmoving. It felt like every time she looked for him, he was standing in this very spot.

Without a word, Aina took Leonel's hand, looking out toward the failing formation. His hand felt sturdier than usual. It seemed as though, despite what his expression might show, he was still the same steady hand.

This serious expression of his was nothing more than him keeping receipts, remembering this moment quite well.

His impression of the Morales family was still overall quite good. It was probably difficult for old folk that had been doing things one way all their lives to suddenly change.

It probably also had to be remembered that they were probably just as arrogant individually as Leonel was. After all, to step into the Eighth Dimension, which of them weren't the absolute geniuses of their era? In fact, the only reason they didn't get a fancy name like the Cataclysm Generation was one because they hadn't experienced such a disaster, and second because in their day, only one or two of them appeared at a time.

How could you name an entire generation when there were only a couple of stars among them?

But this only made these Ancestors even more arrogant. They were used to not having any opponents at all. In their view, in their youth, they were probably no worse than Leonel. They glanced over the details, ignoring the things that made them uncomfortable and focusing on what gave them confidence. It was human nature and something that even powerhouses of their stature weren't immune to.

Ultimately, they still had the intention to crown Leonel their Patriarch, they still saw him as a Morales, they still felt that he was the pride of their family, they only wanted to remind him that in the past, they too had once been the pride of the Morales family.

The Leonel of today, in their eyes, was just a younger version of them. And yet, not only were there multiple of them, but they had had the time to grow and reach the extent of their potential... Why would they defer to a youth?

Leonel understood all of this. He even felt that it made sense on some level if you ignored the details of what he had accomplished. He just didn't care.

If his arrogance had been a vague, amorphous being that only partially directed his action in the past, right now it was like an oppressive, shining beacon that refused to be restrained. It was as though he was both the same, and an entirely different person at the same time.

In the past, he might have been enraged because the Morales family didn't show him the due respect he deserved. Even when he was at his most docile, and the most lacking in ability, back then when he first met King Arthur and casually took a knee to bow because he didn't care much... His limit of patience toward those who didn't give him his due respect was limited.

But now, even this small slight of not even bothering to contact him was burning like an inferno within his heart.

Even so, after a moment, he grinned.

It was his first smile in three days, and as the barrier he had formed continued to weaken and the teleportation platform to his back began to crack and collapse in on itself, he spoke some words that didn't seem to make much sense at first.

"It would be a shame if the Human Domain didn't witness this matter, right? I can't have old fogies thinking that they can just be so casually compared to me, right?"

Leonel looked toward Aina who looked back with a complicated look in her eyes. She didn't quite know how to feel. Her gaze was a cross between confusion, worry, and a hint of support as though she was trying her best to put on a strong front. However, she couldn't hide the fact that hearing these words of everything come from Leonel in this matter had left her not quite knowing what to feel.

However, when she saw the brightness in Leonel's gaze, it seemed to illuminate the darkness within her thoughts. It was as though a galaxy of violet was hidden within, expanding with the grandeur of the big bad and the beauty of a nebula that held the very kernels of life and future possibilities within them.

Leonel's Emperor's Charm seemed to overflow out of his control, roaring with the arrogance of a mythical creature never before seen.

With a thought, Leonel snapped his finger.

At that moment, an echo flashed before quickly vanishing. A dispelled connection that had ended after the Heir Wars concluded suddenly fired up once again, but this time it was of something entirely different. The projection of the second line of defense appeared, and to the shock of many of the powerhouse families who had more information than the general population, it was actually still holding on firmly.

Leonel waved a hand and the corpses of several Ancestors fell to the ground. His eyes opened wide and his hair fluttered wildly. These were corpses that should have long since disintegrated, and yet they were laying at Leonel's feet.

What others didn't know was that this had been a façade from the very beginning. And now, these dead Ancestors had fell in the hands of Leonel Morales.

The wild grin on his face became more menacing as his hair whipped about.

He wasn't on the same level as Ancestors? Was that so?

There was nothing in this world above him.

No one worthy to be compared to him.

"[Emperor's Command...

"... Arise]!"

Leonel roared.