Dimensional Descent

"Oh, an opportunity?"

"Yes. You may or may not know, but the Spiritual Religion and the Suiard have attached themselves together, much like us. The difference being that it's a marriage alliance between the current Heir of the Spirituals Religion and the Sword Deity.

"They made a show of fighting one another, resulting in many lowering their guards. The original assumption was that they would be a check and balance on one another, but the moment they became allies, this check and balance vanished, leading to their combined territory not only be the largest with the most plentiful resources, but they also have a very defendable land with no, so-called, 'natural predators'."

Leonel's brows raised, and he nodded, gesturing for Xavnik to continue.

"While you're challenging the Suiard, it'll be more convenient for me to target the Spirituals Religion directly. This is the best way to separate the two and not allow them to take advantage of fusing their abilities into one, which will be too troublesome for any one of us to handle.

"Setting aside the Sword Deity's combat prowess, the Heir of the Spirituals Religion is exceptionally powerful as well. You may or may not know this, but she is the current number one in our generation's Queen Beauty rankings. This isn't just because she's an exceptional beauty, but it is also because of her exceptional combat prowess.

"Of course, the greatest issue with all of this is that no one knows the true limit of her strength. The Spirituals Religion do not often associate themselves with conflict, and because they're so powerful no one comes to find trouble with them either. In addition, their Heirs, or Heiresses, have never entered the Void Palace; it could be said that the fact she made her way onto the rankings at all, let alone number one, just goes to show you her extraordinary strength."

Leonel raised an eyebrow. Number one on the Queen Beauty rankings? Who decided that nonsense?

"I see. So I'll attack the Suiard half of the territory, while you deal with the Spirituals half. Even if you don't succeed, we'll at least be able to deal with Amery and stop him from receiving reinforcements from the Spirituals Religion. This makes sense."

It was a simple plan, but often these were the best. With a limited number of moving parts, it would be exceptionally easy to execute and it would be a simple matter to get in and get out.

"So you've agreed?" Xavnik asked with a smile.

"Of course, no problem at all. Just give me the time. I was planning on moving out right this moment anyway; I'm ready to go."

Xavnik's gaze lit up. "Excellent. I will attack exactly three hours from now; that is when you can issue your challenge."

"Noted."

Leonel watched with a smile as Xavnik flickered and vanished. Soon, there was nothing but the light breeze of the salted ocean brushing against his ears. The smell in the air was quite strong, but Leonel felt that it was quite good.

He looked to the side to find that Aina had appeared by his side. Their conversation wasn't hidden in the slightest, which was actually quite odd for such a complicated affair. Usually, in order to hide such matters from the ears of spies just in case, such things would happen behind closed doors. But both Leonel and Xavnik had sealed the deal on such a thing out in the open.

"Is it alright to do this?" Aina asked.

She had found out a lot about what was happening during her mini vacation with Leonel. While they had been in their own little world, it didn't mean that they hadn't discussed any business whatsoever. So, she was fully aware of Leonel's speculations about Third Nova.

Toward her question, though, Leonel laughed. "Alright? Well, I guess that would be up to him. It doesn't really matter either way."

Aina's gaze flickered, and then she pinched Leonel's waist, an action to which he pretended to be quite hurt by, yelping and running away without the hint of the seriousness a leader should have.

Aina could only roll her eyes. Clearly, this man didn't want to explain things.

...

Xavnik appeared in his territory once again, a pensive expression on his face. With a step, he entered his city's core, his contemplation growing deeper and deeper as he slowly sat on his throne. As though on cue, a man strode in with heavy steps.

This man was clad in deep green armor, so deep, in fact, that it almost appeared to be black beneath dimmer lights. His hair was an ocean of black, as were his eyes. He looked quite average, but there was something about his demeanor and the depths of his eyes that felt off.

"Ysemsan," Xavnik suddenly said without looking up from his thoughts.

"Yes!" The green-armored man replied with a booming voice.

"Kill these people."

Xavnik waved a hand, and a list unfurled. Upon it, there was a large list of individuals, thousands of them, in fact. Xavnik seemed to have manifested them from the air.

"Do it appropriately. Form up a troop consisting of them, march them off toward the ocean under the pretext of dungeon hunting, and make sure none of them ever resurface."

Ysemsan's gaze flickered. He didn't quite understand why Xavnik was asking for this... That was because if these people could be called to form a troop, and then march off on Xavnik's orders, weren't their identities obvious?

Xavnik was actually executing his own subordinates without the slightest hesitation.

Seemingly sensing that Ysemsan hadn't moved to act on his words immediately, Xavnik looked up. His expression was unreadable, but Ysemsan couldn't help but shudder, his shoulders visibly trembling.

"Right away, lord!"

Xavnik didn't say a word as Ysemsan vanished, his fingers tapping on the armrest of his throne. Suddenly, his shadow seemed to shift beneath his feet, but he didn't seem to react to it even as it took the shape of a willowy woman.

"How ruthless," she said with a giggle.

"It has to be done. There may very well be Cloud Race members right under our noses," Xavnik replied indifferently.