Dimensional Descent

Leonel took a deep breath, surging tides of Force coming in from all directions to replenish his stamina. Thanks to his Stars, even though Leonel couldn't make use of the golden scaled koi fish without breaking the rules, Leonel's personal ability to replenish stamina was exceptional. It would at most take him a few dozen minutes to fully recover.

Still, his mind was wondering elsewhere as the battles raged on.

He hadn't expected that after he circumvented the problem of Aina, that he would run into another stone wall.

The problem of the spiders being destroyed wasn't actually much of an issue. They were just beast constructs, their death wouldn't harm Leonel in any way. But, in that moment, Leonel's own Internal Strength had almost been harmed. Had he not been fast enough, not only would Yuri's Internal Sight have damaged his own, but she would have also been able to trace those spiders back to him.

Leonel's brow couldn't help but furrow before he leaned back and sighed.

The Dimensional Verse was much larger than he gave it credit for. Even after so many years, it was still giving him surprises. He had originally thought that no one would be able to match his Internal Sight, especially after he matched his innate talent with the manipulation techniques of the Luxnix. But now, he had been slapped in the face not just once thanks to Aina, but twice thanks to Yuri.

As time went on, the advantage that Leonel had gained from his Wisdom Branche's First Awakening would only become less and less obvious. He had originally been leaps and bounds beyond anyone else, having Fifth Dimensional boundaries in the Third Dimension. But now, everyone was in the Fifth Dimension, he couldn't expect to continue with the same advantages. Or… He would have to forge new advantages for himself.

'I need to step into the Third Awakening of the Wisdom Branch soon…' Leonel thought to himself.

This was the first time Leonel actively wanted his Luxnix Lineage Factor to progress faster. In the past, it had always come naturally. But after these events, he realized that maybe just his own talent wasn't enough anymore.

As for the matters with Yuri, after calming himself from the initial shock, Leonel wasn't too surprised.

Aina had never told him about Yuri's past, but she had told him that she wasn't human. In addition, he knew that Yuri's Telekinesis Ability, the very same ability Raylion had, wasn't actually an ability at all. Rather, it was the innate skill of her race of people.

Leonel didn't know whether Aina didn't want to tell him what race Yuri was a part of, or if she simply didn't know, but the truth didn't matter. It was likely just another example of her not trusting him while he entrusted everything to her. Regardless, he was no longer emotional about it.

All that mattered was that Yuri was maybe even more troublesome than Aina in this regard thanks to her origins. And, now that he had failed once, they would all be on guard.

…

"Yuri? What's wrong?" Miel frowned, wincing slightly. His injuries still hadn't fully healed, but he had insisted on being here. How could he miss such a thing? "You unleashed a lot more of your power than you normally do, I told you to be careful with that. Until you make it to the Void Palace, you can't let others know of your origins. And even then, you have to be careful with who you can trust."

Originally, Miel was going to send Yuri to the Void Palace along with Aina as a maid servant. With how many noble men and women were allowed entry, some were given exceptions to bring along one person in such a capacity.

But, now that the quotas had expanded, Yuri could enter on her own, making things a lot easier.

"I know, adoptive father. But, someone just targeted you." Yuri's frown deepened.

Her adoptive father had always made her keep a very low profile for her own safety. A large part of the reason she felt so broken up about Aina's wedding was because she felt she was being forced to choose between her own safety and her sister's happiness.

That was right… Yuri felt like she could have saved Aina that day. Whether that was because of an overinflated sense of confidence, or reality… Maybe only she and Miel knew the answer to that.

"Targeted me?"

Yuri sighed. It wasn't that Miel's mind was weaker than them, it was rather that using the Brazinger family Lineage Factor placed a lot of strain on the mind. After going all out just a day before, Miel's Soul Force was fragmented and injured. How could he sense the danger as easily?

"Yes. They were three beast constructs. I tried to track the person, but they retreated too quickly. But, from what it looks like, it's the Luxnix family technique."

Miel's brow raised before he sighed. "… Nothing in this world comes for free."

Yuri felt deflated.

The Luxnix had swooped in and saved Aina that day, but they hadn't asked for anything in return. Originally, she had held the hope that maybe this was because Aina was never the target and that the wedding was just a good chance to deal with the Viola, but this attempt seemed to spit in the face of that.

Could their goal have been more complex than the fall of the Viola?

Miel's line of thinking was the same, but he still didn't conclude that these matters were related to Aina. Would a large family war with another just for the sake of a single girl? Though his daughter was exceptionally talented, weren't all these families arrogant? Plus, they had Myghell, a child even Miel himself was greatly impressed by.

On top of this, they couldn't have known that he would be able to weaken the Viola so much before they fought.

So, Miel's thoughts were very, very different…

'Could it be that they learned of the existence of the Bronze Tablet? Could that be the true reason they attacked the Viola…?'

A hint of worry marred Miel's brow. If his greatest secret was exposed… This could be troublesome…

…

On the other side of the arena, Leonel, who had long since calmed, began to deduce several things. Among them was the exact thought process of the current Miel and Yuri.

'Yes, if they believe I'm from the Luxnix family, that would indeed be their line of thinking… Maybe I can use this to my advantage…'

Leonel looked up, feeling a familiar aura calling out to him. It seemed that it was his turn to battle once again.

Leonel Morales versus Syllar Luxnix.