Dimensional Descent

The needles whistled through the air with a strength that could match the Rapax. The strong currents of wind it should have produced were split in two beneath their fine construction. Beneath the low light, they almost seemed to fuse into the fog, their bodies carrying with them a hint of devastating pressure. Even without this odd poisonous Force, these needles were lethal. But, with them, it was enough to make far greater men feel inferior.

Aina took a strong step forward, her hair fluttering. She released a hand from her battle ax and her palm swiped through the air with an elegant flare. Her every action was filled with confidence. In that moment, it felt like even though Simona and Aina could be considered comparable in beauty, when it came to innate disposition, the latter was in a class all to her own.

As though the needles were nothing special at all, Aina caught the first between her fore and middle finger, the second between her middle and ring finger, and the last between her ring and pinkie finger. Her arm swept through the air in a clear arc, not pausing for even a moment. The only sign of her action was a dull slapping sound as each one was trapped between her slender digits.

Without missing a beat, Aina continued to move forward, her momentum not having stalled even a single measure. She didn't even seem to notice the dense purple Force around her fingers at all, as though it could do nothing more than tickle her.

Simona's eyes widened. She hadn't planned for her needles to harm or injure Aina, but she had banked on them stalling her opponent for just a moment. Catching them out of the air like that was completely beyond her expectations. It required a level of skill, speed and coordination that she could hardly wrap her head around, especially when the Force she had coated it in was taken into consideration. Just a single mistake would have ended in Aian being skewered.

Unfortunately for her, Simona hardly got the change to finish this thought before Aina's hand whipped forward once more. This time, the needles were sent flying again, but they felt almost twice as fast. Just a flick of Aina's wrist carried more strength than most could even begin to fathom behind it.

Simona, who was still off balance, quickly brandished her short, silver sword, realizing that there was no other choice to make.

DING! DING! DING!

Simona's wrist went numb, her shoulder quaking as she was forced several steps back once again. But, by then, even as she teetered on the edge of the platform, Aina had already appeared before her, her battle ax swinging downward once again.

Aina's battle style was ruthless and to the point. She wasted no movements and seemed to make moves on instinct that cornered her enemy step by step. From the psychological assault that started the battle to the oppressive physical might that seemed to be about to end it, she had been absolutely perfect and without blemish. It almost made Simona look as though she was truly not worth much of anything despite the fact she was a true genius.

"Young miss!"

The other younger generation members of the Pyius family couldn't remain standing no more. They had felt Simona's rage and knew better than to interfere. But, now that things reached this point, even if their young miss became enraged, they couldn't just allow her to die.

No one knew what was hidden within the foggy lake below, but considering the circumstances, it didn't take a genius to understand that it wasn't good.

However, wasn't Leonel still here?

Leonel had been observing everything intently from the very beginning. Despite being impressed with the battle, he wouldn't lag behind in intervening when the matter became like this.

His figure flickered, his body appearing amidst the encirclement of Pyius family members. There were exactly four of them, each carrying a demeanor similar to Simona's. It was as though this entire family was suffused with an air of hardly disguised coldness.

Their gazes only became colder when they saw Leonel. However, the latter only smiled, facing their attacks with a calmness.

'They're strong…' Leonel thought to himself.

Leonel pressed two palms outward, slapping the forearm of a fist aimed for his head. Taking advantage of the shift in momentum, he threw a solid punch at their lats. He could feel a satisfying deformation of flesh and bone when his fist connected, but it only last a moment before this individual was blown away.

At that same moment, Aina's blade descended upon Simona.

BANG!

Simona found herself thrust into the ground, the back of her head and even her back itself crushed into the stone beneath them. The only thing between herself and being sliced into was her blocking short sword, her entire body being pressed into the ground.

A deep humiliation flickered within Simona's gaze. She could feel that the gap between her and Aina shouldn't feel this large, and yet, here they were.

The sound of muffled groans resounded as Simona's people were further blasted away, their bodies unable to keep up with Leonel's strikes and counters. It felt as though he was twice as fast, twice as strong and twice as capable as any one of them.

"Your Golden Token." Aina said lightly.

Simona's blade trembled against Aina's ax while the latter's blade might as well have been as steady as a mountain. The disparity in raw strength couldn't have been more obvious. If Aina wanted to press down and kill her, she could do so only by adding a little bit more strength, just as she had done before.

Simona's cold gaze flickered. But, without a word, she brought out her Token.

Under a mysterious law, it cracked, its color flowing into Aina.

Leonel smiled, standing over the four defeated subordinates. This had gone even smoother than expected.

But, Leonel maybe should have known that things couldn't possibly stay so easy for him.