Dimensional Descent

 Bear

Leonel stood tall in the skies.

He had been particularly heavy-handed against this woman, and it wasn't just because of her words or who her son was.

Just now, she had attacked with the intent to blow everything apart, without a care for who was inside, or how many of them she killed in her tirade. In fact, she was probably hoping that she would kill several people.

Even if it was just Ailsa alone, Leonel would have already been furious to an extreme. But now that she had a baby in her belly, this woman had just tried to wipe out his entire family in a single strike.

What did she deserve if not a heavy hand? In fact…

Leonel raised his hand again, his eyes glowing with a deadly light. Then, he lightly drew a finger across the air.

Die.

"Milady! WATCH OUT!"

A guard rushed out to block, but that was when something completely astonishing happened.

Their sword had blade-blocked the scythe of Spear Force when he froze. His body convulsed and then he erupted into a rain of blood and gore.

The spray of crimson liquids and meat landed all over the lady, and her face was stricken with horror.

Leonel stood indifferently in the skies, ready to draw another scythe. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

The bridge between his Weapon Forces and his Ability Index wasn't a normal one. Allowing his Control Ability Index to wield his Weapon Forces like an extension of his body was already shocking enough, but it wasn't just his Control Ability Index that got the boost.

The bridge between the tangible and intangible, the opposite sides of his Ability Index and King Alexandre's, had allowed Leonel to gain even greater control over the latter Ability Index as well.

As a result, a casual thought of death made this insignificant guard unable to even withstand a single blow. In fact, it couldn't even be said it was a blow.

Instead, it was as though the world sensed that someone was trying to stand in the way of his Edict and it directly expelled the person who made such an attempt.

The screech of the lady pierced the veil of the skies and at that moment, the powerful auras who had been rapidly approaching finally arrived.

They looked down wide-eyed at the scene, and when they saw that Leonel was about to attack again, their expressions changed once more.

"STOP!"

The men who reacted first were most definitely under the faction of Leonel's third uncle. However, looking around, there was certainly no Third Imperial Prince to be seen.

But this made sense. Leonel would be surprised if Fawkes' offspring could be so casual about their time. In all likelihood, most of them were on the battlefield earning merits.

This useless woman was just likely one of his third uncle's many women and was certainly not the main wife. The main wife couldn't possibly be so useless.

She was either on the battlefield as well, or…

Leonel looked around and saw something curious. His lip curled into a smile.

It was subtle, but he noticed it immediately. There were many uniforms in the crowd. Some wore armor and others wore robes. However, regardless of what it was, he could see the fingerprints of the Crafter that made them all.

Of those that weren't acting right now, many of them had the designs of a different Crafter. But, though a minority, there were still several in the crowd of elites that were wearing the designs of the same Crafter as the men protecting this woman of the Third Imperial Prince.

What did that mean? It meant that the faction of this third uncle of his was split. And even further than that, according to Nilrem, the three he had killed shared the same father, but not the same mother. So why had only one mother appeared?

It could be several things.

One was a probe. A second was a trap. And a third was to get rid of this woman.

Like those three had said, useless people wouldn't marry useless people in the Fawkes family. So why was this woman so worthless?

The first explanation was that it was a personality problem. She had the talent and bloodline, but not the work ethic to do much with it. Still, she was good enough to pump out children from time to time.

The second explanation was that she had a background of sorts that would only help the Third Imperial Prince to solidify his standing in the family.

Leonel, though, was less interested in this and far more interested in who was trying to pluck strings behind the scenes. That was because he had a feeling that it was all three.

With a single move, they could probe him, pull him into a trap, and get rid of the woman they didn't like.

Leonel's sneer was clear and wide, his disdain practically becoming tangible.

He just… didn't care.

Die.

The scythe he was drawing finished at the same time all his deductions concluded.

The guards tried to block the attack again, cold sweat matting their backs as they stood on the flesh of their companion.

But the spear light just flickered and vanished. They didn't even have the time to react before the head of their mistress was sent flying into the air.

There was no quarter to be had here. He hadn't hesitated to kill his own cousins, let alone this woman he had no blood relation to at all.

There was only one path for those that stood in his way now.

His heart wasn't as dark as it had been after his father's death. In fact, it was clearer than crystal and shimmered brighter than stars.

He drew a clear line of what was right and wrong by his own standards and no one else's.

With one breath, he would protect the life of the masses and put his heart on the line for them.

In another, those that crossed him would bear his wrath.