Dimensional Descent

Leonel shamelessly used Aina as a distraction and blew by the group, flashing into the distance, a small squadron of barely over 10 moving swiftly with him.

"Miel! Why didn't you stop them?"

Truthfully, many had been in a daze. Aina was beautiful, yes. But there was something more to it than that. Her very presence was beyond their understanding. That sort of feeling... it came from the Life State, and it was something that filled them with fear.

But how could someone in the Seventh Dimension possibly grasp the Life State? There had to be something else to it, something hidden deeper that could make their hearts palpitate like it just had.

Miel didn't respond. He didn't understand why his daughter was here either, but he also understood that they couldn't waste any more time here.

"Forget it. The men should be gathered by now. We need to move."

"Miel," Cidra called out.

"Yes?"

"That boy, he mentioned the two exits..."

"We can't put stock in this. They aren't part of our military personnel and we can't risk our men on the words of a Fourth Dimensional existence. We'll move with the original plan. Just in case, I will head the army of the second exit the boy mentioned. The rest of you will split up and man the other five entrances.

"Cidra, please follow after my daughter and the exit they took."

"Understood."

Everyone nodded. Considering the situation, this was the best they could do. They agreed with Miel's decision as well; it was the most logical.

Leonel felt a pinch at his waist and winced.

"What'd I do?" Leonel feigned innocence.

"You were fighting with my father, weren't you? Then you brought me out as some sort of power play?"

Leonel's brothers pursed their lips, biting into them hard to stop themselves from bursting into a fit of laughter.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Leonel replied seriously.

"That's right, Leo. Deny, deny, deny!" James changed his voice to Milan's in his best display of ventriloquism yet. But what good was that when Leonel had senses like he did?

Unfortunately, when Leonel tried to glare at him, Aina pinched harder, so he could only look forward, pretending not to feel a thing.

"Humph," Aina grumbled. She hadn't been paying attention, so she didn't know what actually happened. But she would definitely ask Anastasia later.

"No need to wait, Aina! This guy had a big fight with your dad, punish him properly!"

Leonel glared at the finger sleeve on his hand. Wasn't Anastasia supposed to be his partner? Whose side was she on exactly?

Aina's gaze became dangerous. "Leonel-"

"Alright." Leonel's voice had a hint of sternness in it. It was a tone he had never used to talk to Aina before, at least not when they were truly together. "Let's be clear about something..."

Leonel met Aina's gaze as they ran, rushing across thick pipes and leaping from building to building.

"There are some things that I'll happily allow you to take the reins on, but not this time. Your father and I have a strained relationship, true. But I won't let you undercut me for his sake. The only person I signed up to bow and scrape for is you; that doesn't extend to your family or your friends. Do you understand?"

Silence fell and Leonel's brothers pretended to be looking elsewhere, clearing their throats. Even Anastasia didn't throw in her input this time; she could understand when she should and shouldn't mess around.

Leonel and Aina looked at each other for a long time. But after a few seconds of no answer, Leonel suddenly began to feel weird.

This woman... why did her eyes look like that? It looked like she was ready to rob the cradle, as though if Leonel didn't push her down, she'd push him down instead.

Leonel poked her forehead, stunning Aina awake.

"Hey, hey, focus. We're about to go into battle."

"Yes, king." Aina nodded obediently.

Leonel was speechless.

Leonel's brothers choked on air.

...

Sergeant Moe had been in a bad mood for weeks. First the several Godlen citizens had been sacrificed at Leonel's hands, then he humiliated them all by actually managing to escape right under their noses. As though that wasn't bad enough, not only had there been no trace of him for weeks afterward, but when he did finally appear, it was to steal the core of one of their mines.

It was still fine. After receiving the report, they thought that this was a good thing. Since Leonel was trapped in there with the rest of them, this was a chance to capture him as well. Due to this, the powerhouses of the Godlen family were personally mobilized, catching the demons off guard. They could have never guessed that so many Ninth Dimensional existences would appear for a mere Fifth Dimensional mine. How could they know that the Godlens believed the man who had stolen their Codex was stuck within?

Who would have thought that even after sending out so many powerhouses, it would have all been useless? Leonel had long since escaped and they put in so much effort for nothing.

The worst worst part was that because they had focused so much attention on a useless mine, they had actually lost their most important Ninth Dimensional Urbe Ore Mine as a result.

The demons had taken cheap advantage of them, and launching an assault was far too dangerous compared to just defending.

As they were hesitating, deciding whether or not to launch another all-out assault, news that the Ninth Dimensional Urbe Ore Mine had been destroyed came from above.

The mine was completely buried. If they wanted to excavate all the tunnels again, it would take years of effort and large amounts of manpower. This was Ninth Dimension Urbe Ore they were talking about; even the miners had to be at least of the Mid-Level of the Eighth Dimension to make any sort of progress, let alone now that it had been completely buried. Maybe only Vivak and the other Heads could take action at this point.

But how could they spare the time for this now?

After all these months of frustration, the Godlens really needed a win. As such, they moved the plan to deal with the Slayer Legion up.

This was their chance to regain morale and momentum... Morale and momentum that had been stolen from them by a single boy.