Dimensional Descent

Leonel's gaze narrowed.

Of all the things he could have expected to happen, this was the last. He didn't think that just existing would end with such people on his tail. He couldn't help but wonder how it was the Luxnix had remained safe for so long. From what Leonel could tell, these shadows definitely came from an organization far more powerful than what the Luxnix could hope to match.

Leonel exhaled a light breath. The obvious conclusion was that this was thanks to Wise Star Order. The old man had remained silent even up until this point despite the fact Leonel was quite certain he was paying attention to the current situation.

It suddenly felt obvious to Leonel that the old man had more reasons for forcing the Luxnix to lay low for three generations than he was letting on. However, Leonel had absolutely no intention of selling out a family he planned on taking over personally very soon. And, even if he hadn't had such intentions, exposing them would put his mother, grandmother and cousin in harms way.

If they wanted such information from him, they would have to try harder than this.

Leonel's body relaxed. The toned outline of his scale covered body seemed to lengthen somewhat, his tense muscles loosening.

Almost the moment he did, spiraling flames seemed to erupt around him as though this was simply his most natural state.

"I've never fought a Shadow Sovereign before, how about you enlighten me?"

The shadow didn't respond. Instead, it flickered and vanished. This time, however, this wasn't an illusion of speed. Leonel could almost impose the image of Little Blackstar onto this person. Whether it was vanishing in a puff of black smoke, walking through the air or the heavy domain that almost instantly sunk around Leonel, it was all the same.

Blood shot up from Leonel's chest, a line being drawn from the middle of his torso up and out his collarbone. The strike was fierce and swift, leaving him almost no room to maneuver. However… It was also shallow.

The shadow seemed taken off guard that Leonel hadn't even tried to dodge, but was even more shocked by the fact that their blade hadn't sliced him in two. Unfortunately, as shocked as it might have been about these two things, the spear running through its chest was without a doubt the highest priority.

BANG!

A surging tide of Scarlet Star Force tore a path out of the shadow's body.

Leonel's gaze narrowed. But, almost in directly opposing fashion, a sneer spread across his face. He had spent everyday of the last several years of his life with a Shadow Sovereign by his side. Not just this, but his mind was connected with one.

Seeing this sneer, the shadow, who had just been preparing to attack again even with a spear running through its chest immediately chose to retreat instead. However, under what was the astonished gazes of many spectators, Leonel rushed forward to match its backward momentum.

The shadow darted from the left and right, shooting in the skies and even rushing back down to the ground. But, as though he could read the future, Leonel matched it beat for beat, his spear still running through its chest.

As expected, the shadow had gone incorporeal, much like Little Blackstar could. While Leonel's spear had, indeed, run through its chest, it had hit nothing but empty air. However, this was exactly what Leonel had been expecting.

Caught off guard and unable to react, the Shadow Sovereign reacted on instinct, dodging Leonel's strike using its greatest evasive ability, and it was exactly this that had caused it to fall into Leonel's trap.

While in this state, the Shadow Sovereign had no ability to attack. It if wanted to counter Leonel, it would have to become corporeal, but doing such a thing would be like driving a spear through its own chest.

Leonel remembered very clearly that Little Blackstar had once saved his life by bringing him into this incorporeal state. The little guy had been so tired after doing this that he couldn't even bring himself into the incorporeal state for a long while.

This told Leonel one thing. There was most definitely a limit to how long the shadow could keep this up. Maybe it was a few minutes, maybe it was a few hours, but there was definitely a limit. And, if Leonel was correct, it was definitely on the lower end or else it wouldn't be moving so erratically.

The first shadow that Leonel and Aina had fought together saw this scene and had no idea how to react. The sight would have almost been comedic if it wasn't so blatantly obvious that they were suddenly toeing the line of life and death.

"Shit." The first shadow immediately turned back, only to find Aina in its path. "Get out of my way!"

Aina didn't say a single word, swinging her ax down.

Leonel's gaze continued to flicker and calculate. He could already think of several methods the Shadow Sovereign could use to get out of this fate. It simply had to go somewhere Leonel could not. But, for every second it didn't take one of these options, the more certain Leonel became of a few things.

First, the Shadow Sovereign was already running out of time. And, second, it seemed this incorporeal state didn't allow absolute freedom.

At that moment, the shadow suddenly came to a grinding halt, but Leonel was prepared, stopping just as quickly. However, what he wasn't prepared for was the Shadow Sovereign to suddenly hack up a mouthful of blood.

In one moment, Leonel felt like he was piercing through air and in the next, the weight of flesh pressing around his blade was all too obvious.

This should have been a good thing, he should have just found the limits of the Shadow Sovereign. But, Leonel's instincts told him different. The Shadow Sovereign had chosen to do this on purpose.

On cue, twins swords crossed around Leonel's neck. It seemed the Shadow Sovereign had chosen to use the same trick as Leonel. Exchanging injury for devastation.