Dimensional Descent

James unleashed a concussive barrage, his violent assault practically leaving craters all across Elorin's body. All of the Force in the domain was absorbed by him, fueling his power to the point that he seemed beyond superhuman, nothing Elorin did seemed to be good enough.

Noah, who stood a distance away, breathing hard, could hardly mask the complicated look in his eyes. It felt as though he was watching another Leonel crush him in all aspects he held dear.

It was just Leonel, or even now James. He also had to experience Myghell surpassing him in all aspects as well. Though he didn't know where Myghell was now, and he had done nothing but work hard all these years, he still knew deep inside that he had yet to catch up to him either.

No matter how Noah racked his brain, he couldn't understand what the difference was.

Was his will not great enough? But how much had he been willing to sacrifice for Earth? How much of his life had he dedicated to causes that were anything but selfish?

It just felt frustrating.

He should have felt happy that Earth seemed to have been saved, but instead he felt inferior.

Jessica looked toward Noah's side profile and sighed herself. She wanted to comfort him, but she had tried many times before. This simply wasn't something that an outside force could help with.

*k Leonel's eyes flashed open, a strong vitality rippling out from him. With just a single breath, he felt as though he had been revitalized.

He jumped to his feet, stretching and unleashing a roar. The leaves rustled wildly and the earth quaked, a cyclone of wind spiraling into his lungs. His body felt light and the confidence in his eyes couldn't have been sharper.

Leonel turned toward a certain direction. There, on the other side of his barrier, a smiling youth with bronzed skin stood. It seemed that this youth had been watching him sleep all the while, a prospect that likely would have left most uncomfortable, but Leonel only smiled.

An odd light flashed within Edrym's eyes. Of all the responses he had expected, this was the last one, however what he didn't know was that even with his Ability Index sealed, Leonel's emotional intelligence was still off the charts. How could he not tell what Edrym was trying to do? Unfortunately for him, unsettling someone like Leonel wasn't so easy.

With a thought, Leonel communicated with the orb and released the hold on his barrier, allowing Edrym to walk right through.

Taking it as an invite, Edrym strolled in with a radiant smile. His every action seemed like he was perfectly photo ready, it was aggravating in an almost too obvious kind of way, almost like Edrym knew what he was doing and yet did so anyway as though he couldn't tell that it came off as fake.

"I didn't expect that the anomaly this time would be a human, quite fascinating. Color me surprised, I guess there really are a multitude of variables in the universe."

Leonel's lip curled. "Indeed, so it probably isn't all that surprising to find a creep who likes watching people sleep among so many 'variables', right?"

Edrym laughed. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, but you see there's only the two of us remaining so there really was no point in returning to my own territory, this made it more convenient for the both of us, no?"

"That much I agree with," Leonel reached for his back and unsheathed his spear from its holster, the white fur that coated his body fluttering in the wind. He took a casual glance toward the spear in Edrym's hand and realized that it was in the Gold Grade, but he didn't seem surprised. He had long since expected this.

Edrym's spear vibrated slightly as he sighed. "I have to say, this is a bit unfortunate. This battle won't be very fair. If it was in the outside world, we could battle our heart's content. It's a shame, I was looking forward to this."

Leonel yawned, expelling his last bit of fatigue as his body slowly woke all the way up. His cells thrummed, his heart pounded and his blood gushed. He felt light on his feet and his spear truly felt like an extension of his arm.

"You know, I thought I was annoying, but that seems to be a standout feature for you all. Tell you what, I doubt your recovery abilities are anywhere near as annoying as that Fiend Demon. If you can last a hundred attacks of my spear, I'll let you get a free shot in."

Edrym paused, suddenly not knowing what to say. If Leonel was going to say something like, should he have chosen a lower number? Also, what did "free shot" mean, shouldn't he have said that he would willingly give up? Was he just trying to toy with him?

What he didn't know was that Leonel was dead serious. Edrym didn't stand a chance against him.

Leonel's figure suddenly rippled and he vanished. When he appeared again, his spear was already at Edrym's throat, causing the latter's pupils to constrict. But rather than dodging, to Leonel's surprise, Edrym didn't move at all, instead choosing to directly counter.

Leonel's gaze turned fierce.

Swift.

Edrym sensed that something was wrong and hurried changed tactics, diving to the side.

SHIIING!

The sound of blades sharpening echoed through the air, but moments later, a harsh ripping sound replaced it.

Edrym rolled to the side, popping up to his feet and hurriedly retreating. When he came to a stop, he slowly dodged his neck. He felt something moist that caused him to freeze, not quite believing it. But when he slowly brought it to his line of sight, there was a drizzle of bronze-gold blood running down his fingers, dripping down the length of his finger and falling to the ground.

Leonel flicked his wrist and the blood that had coated his blade rushed out, tearing a hole through a nearby tree.