Dimensional Descent

Leonel let out a roar.

In a blink, his body was covered in a sparkling black light. The sound of a shattering barrier resounded as he snapped his neck to one side, feeling the searing pain of the crimson beam flying just by his ear.

Leonel breathed heavily, a hint of fear causing his heart to palpitate.

If it wasn't for the fact he had built the Space Element into his Magic Core, allowing him to coat his body in the Force Element and forcefully shatter the Oryx's bind on him, he really might have died just then.

Leonel realized at that moment that these two Oryx's alone were far beyond his means to battle. Hoping to stall them with his terrain advantage was nothing more than a pipe dream. If he wasn't careful, it would be him who would be played with to death.

Whether it was a Lineage Factor or an ability didn't even matter right now. All that did matter was that they could and would kill him if he was the slightest bit careless.

Leonel didn't wait for the Oryx to be surprise that he had managed to break out of their pincer attack.

With swift movements, he nocked the two arrows he had pulled out earlier. He rose into the skies, aiming downward and releasing.

The two arrows spiraled out of each other's path before slamming into one another.

Sparks flew, their trajectories snapping toward completely separate directions, both of which happened to be headed for one of the Oryx each.

The Oryx didn't seem flustered by this in the slightest. One raised their halberd, the other raising their great sword. With swift, unhurried movements, they slashed outward.

However right then.

BANG!

The arrows exploded. It felt as though two red suns had suddenly appeared in the midst of the battlefield. For a moment, the world was dyed in crimson.

The two Oryx roared, all three of their eyes shutting under the assault.

Leonel quickly landed on the top of the rock wall, his feet stamping down. In the blink of an eye, four passageways appeared all around the wall.

"Hurry up!" Leonel shouted.

The freshmen recovered, scrambling to enter the wall.

Leonel brandished his bow. Taking advantage of the temporary blindness of the two Oryx, Leonel began to rain down arrows.

'The fur on their lower half provides a large boost to their defense… Their skin can be vulnerable… Aiming toward patches of skin without bone directly underneath is the most effective…'

Leonel managed to send five arrows toward each Oryx, learning more and more with each strike. But, after a while he noticed that after being hit by his third arrow, the Oryx quickly adapted. Even with their eyes closed, they began to dodge and block.

'Internal Sight…'

Leonel sucked in a cold breath. He had to stop treating these Oryx as though they were beasts. Not only did they have intelligence, but they seemed to have access to all the same network of abilities humans did.

Leonel's own bias was thwarting his judgment. He had never interacted with other races of people before, but this should be enough to tell him the universe didn't play favorites. If anything, with how unlucky the Oryx had been in having their home world taken over by humans, the universe would favor them just a touch more.

How ironic. Leonel had just finished repelling an invasion of his own world, just to participate in the invasion of another. What kind of sick place was this Dimensional Verse exactly?

'They're already recovering… Seven seconds exactly… I'd be lucky to get even three if I managed to catch them off guard again…'

Leonel swept his senses over the youth. Though they were weak, if they couldn't cross a mere ten meters with seven seconds, a feat that even an injured mortal could manage, they would have never been admitted to Valiant Heart Mountain.

Even with the jostling and fighting that was inevitable, the freshmen still all managed to cross the barrier in that time.

Leonel shot another arrow, but this one flew right toward Seith.

It landed right at the senior's feet, causing him to jump in a panic.

"Let them in." Leonel said coldly, not even looking back.

Seeing the over 70 freshmen who still remained and glancing toward Hallis who still had Aina's blade to his neck, Seith realized that it was a futile effort.

Before anyone could react, he turned tail and ran into the tunnel. Leonel had said to let everyone in, but that didn't mean he was just going to stand there and accept his fate.

From the way it looked, Leonel would be those two Oryx's first target when they fully recovered. Maybe that would give him enough time to escape through the network of tunnels. He had to hurry.

The freshmen didn't have the time to mind it all, rushing into the tunnel after Seith. The only difference between this time and the last was that some actually looked back toward Leonel.

This was already the second time Leonel had saved them all. If they couldn't at least realize this, they'd be sub-human.

The Dimensional Verse may seem like an endlessly cruel place. But, in some small corners, there would always be kindness. If not, how could people have survived so long against the elements this world always threw at them?

The freshmen threw a look back toward Leonel and dashed into the tunnels, the image of him raining down arrows searing into their minds.

Leonel's jaw remained clenched, his eyes growing colder and colder as he rained his arrows down, doing his best to distract the two.

'They haven't used their abilities ever since their eyes closed. It seems that they're reliant on their third eye being open. But, if I can predict when it will open and react first…'

Leonel's heartbeat grew steadier and steadier, his breathing and his release of his arrows syncing into one.

Aina sent a worried glance up toward Leonel. Then, gritting her teeth, she too rushed into the tunnel.