Dimensional Descent

Leonel's consciousness came in and out of focus, he was truly drained. Even his usually endless Dream Force was tapped out. The process of fully separating his soul from his body was definitely incredibly taxing and it felt even much like something that shouldn't have happened at all. However, when that was stacked atop of what he had experienced before, it really pushed him over the edge.

He had only managed to run so far out of sheer will and he wasn't even 100% certain if what he expected to find on the other side would be that.

However, before he could hit the ground, he found himself enveloped by a soft embrace.

The moment Leonel appeared, Aina had sensed it immediately and rushed over. She seemed to blink away from her location, nothing but a tornado of black feathers being left as a marker for her former appearance. When she appeared once more, she had already caught Leonel.

Those black feathers that had wrapped around her, dancing about in a pattern around her, was a defense the three women had become intimately familiar with. It was as though they couldn't pass through it no matter how hard they tried.

However, at that moment, they didn't harm Leonel in the slightest, allowing his head to pass through as though they weren't there at all.

Aina's expression flickered. Leonel looked so sickly and weak.

The first emotion she felt with excitement, but then when she said his state she felt worry, and very soon that became an unbridled rage.

"DIE!"

In her fury, her tail whipped out and shot through the skulls of the three women in one sweeping motion that was no less sharp than a flexible sword.

As though a disk had run through their foreheads, their expressions froze in horror before their bodies plopped to the ground with a dull, wet sound.

Aina held Leonel in her arms and shivered when she realized that he had actually fallen to the Fifth Dimension. Just what had happened to him?

Her gaze landed on the demon he had been dragging behind him. Was it because of this demon?

Her demonic eyes flickered with rage.

She couldn't refine this demon to help Leonel. In his current state, there was no way that he could handle a Force Pill on this level.

One had to remember just the kind of violent upheaval Leonel's body underwent whenever he swallowed these pills. Even in his peak state, it was like he swallowed a mountain and his digestive system was placed under a great amount of stress. Most importantly, it was mostly because of his Tier 4 Control Ability Index that he was able to lower much of the risk.

However, if he swallowed even a lower Fiend Class Force Pill in this state, he would end up ripping a hole through his body. It definitely wasn't an easy feat to improve your foundation, it needed one to have decent enough talent to begin with and a tremendous amount of focus.

Leonel needed something more delicate to absorb.

Aina's brows furrowed, but this didn't last too long. She placed a hand on Leonel's chest and a strong Life Force began to pulse. She reached out another hand toward the demon's corpse and it was quickly sucked dry before it began to be quickly refined.

Aina's expression flickered. This demon looked like any other higher Fiend Class demon, but there was something different about its insides. It was actually on the verge of becoming a Chaos Class demon and it had even started the process, but for some reason it had halted.

After thinking to this point, Aina thrust away all other distracting thoughts.

By now, her skill in manipulating Blood Force had skyrocketed. Since Leonel could absorb it on his own, she would just have to break it down into bite sized pieces he could absorb. It was as simple as that. Even the Aurora Black Panther's Life Steal abilities were nothing compared to her.

Leonel quickly began to regain some color.

His skin gained some luster, no longer sticking to his bone. His white hair and eyes began to slowly regain their pale violet hues and the faint light they usually emitted. And, his muscles returned inch by inch as though vegetation that had finally been watered.

Leonel's consciousness, which had been fading in and out, regained some of its focus, his heart skipping a beat.

Though it seemed like he had only lost consciousness just now, it was far worse than that. If not for someone's action, he would have died.

His body was running on empty and it could be said that the only thing still running was his soul, but once he ran out of Dream Force, wouldn't it also be running on empty? If his body and soul hit a wall, what was there left if not death?

Both needed to be functioning properly for Leonel to hold onto his life.

Normal humans of the Human Domain had their souls and bodies fused into one, so once the body died, the soul would die as well. Likewise, if one met a Spiritual capable of targeting one's soul, death would also be the only path forward.

However, the separation of Leonel's soul and body meant that he had some leeway. His body could be pushed to the brink of death and he would be able to bring it back with his soul. At the same time, his soul could be brought to the brink of death and he could use his body to bring it back.

The only caveat was that his Ethereal Glabella had to remain intact. It was the link that chained the both. Without it, there was only death waiting for him.

'Wait… someone?'

Leonel started and his head shot up to final a demonic pair of eyes looking back at him. Its whites were completely black and the irises were entirely crimson.

Aina, who hadn't been ready for Leonel to suddenly wake up, panicked, trying to hide her face.