Dimensional Descent

Leonel stood frozen, his silver rod gripped tightly in one hand and the bracelet he had traded for Aina in his other. He hardly heard the shrieks of the girls cowering behind James as he watch her use Conrad's own shirt to wipe his blood from her arm.

Aina's gaze didn't ever seem to leave his own. Maybe it was Leonel's own illusion, he wasn't sure. But what was certain was that Aina made her way over to him. In a series of events that were nothing more than a blur to him, his bag, the one she had been carrying all this time, the very one he had allowed her to use as a pillow, ended up in his hand. The very same hand he held the bracelet in.

The massive battle axe on her seemingly delicate back cast a shadow over his face, dwarfing him completely. Leonel wasn't even consciously aware of what happened next, he only caught small tidbits.

Savahn was too scared to approach Aina anymore. Yuri's demeanor changed with Aina's appearance as though she had never been afraid. The odd world they were in began to tremble. And before Leonel knew it, he was standing on the grass gardens that once surrounded the Northern Dormitories.

All he could think about was Aina's gaze. Her amber, almost golden eyes, peering through his soul. It wasn't particularly cold, nor did it fill him with fear, but there was something deeply unsettling about them, a feeling that set an itch he couldn't reach in his heart.

"Leo! LEO!"

Leonel's eyes flashed as his body shifted to the side. He stuck his silver rod into the soft soil beneath him and used his now free hand to grab to the side.

His reactions were inconceivably quick. He hadn't even seen who attacked him from behind even to this moment. All he had was a frail wrist that almost seemed like it could snap with a single squeeze.

'Strength 0.72?'

Leonel was stunned. Knowing he wouldn't be able to hold on for so with his 0.67 level strength, he used the attacker's momentum against them, pulling on their wrist and sweeping his leg across.

'That's… That's the girl who threw up that day…'

Leonel's white pupil'd underclassman flipped in the air, falling on her back with a resounding thud.

James, who had been the one calling out to Leonel, blinked in shock before smiling bitterly. It seemed his best friend had had his own massive improvements. In fact, with how alert Leonel had been even in a daze just now, he had a feeling that Leonel had suffered more than them all.

Yet, he had somehow managed to keep a bright smile on his face when he came back, only for him to lose that smile due to that event that shocked even James himself. He really didn't know how to console Leonel.

'Leonel is too soft… How could he deal with the girl he's chased for five years now being…'

James sighed.

"We can't stay here." Leonel finally pulled himself out of his slump. He knew that this wasn't the time to be sulking.

Grabbing his silver rod, he pressed it to his underclassman's chest, using his leverage to stop her from using her obscene strength.

With a quick glance around, he understood the situation.

Luckily, in the months they had been gone, the white pupil'd mutants had dispersed. But with Leonel's senses, he could hear many of them approaching as though they could grasp their location.

Leonel counted the number of people around him, feeling a sudden pang when he realized that the number was much less than it should have been.

"Zavier… He?"

"I entered the Sub-Dimensional Zone with him, Milan and Joel…

had been over 30 of them in the beginning, but now only 12 remained. In

to frown. Before he could react,

over with a gloomy expression as the girl's life

gaze had been indifferent, but Yuri's almost

the hell are you doing?"

think that Leonel had such a fierce gaze in him.

had never come into play to now was because he couldn't pull his will behind

expression dialing back to a neutral gaze that almost said 'just

later, the girl who lay dead beneath Leonel began to glow, turning into motes

an instinct he reserved for enemies. But he could faintly feel that Yuri had improved in strength by a small fraction. It was too small of a fraction for Leonel to pinpoint, but he could vaguely feel

he kept his 'stats' to just two significant figures was because his senses weren't yet sharp enough to break it down further.

your question, I will explain it to you. These white pupil'd people are called Invalids. They're the people who during their awakening were instead 'eaten' by their abilities,

instincts. If they swallow those of us who succeeded, they have a chance to evolve and regain their consciousness. The reason they allowed us to enter the Sub-Dimensional Zone first is because it's in their

they are essentially a bundle of energy now. So, by killing them we can also

was a C-grade Invalid. It is impressive that you were able to handle her so easily. You are worth

like raging serpents as he clutched

is it?' Leonel closed

[Congratulations!]

all of their minds completely interrupted the tense

many have fallen, you can be considered the true pillars of

their only instinct is to swallow you. They

Zones, from the F-grade to the SSS-grade. Be mindful and

heroes together. Your wrist watches will point you toward the closest center of power in your region. Please head there as quickly and safely as possible so that you can be properly

voice was no longer mechanical. In fact, it was distinctly human. Leonel had heard this very voice before. Many times

us to register…? Why would they need that, can't they already monitor us…?

overcoming him. It seemed the forceful tweaks the Empire made to their technology weren't exactly perfect quite yet. Maybe they

Emperor left them wasn't a true map but rather simply pointed toward a direction, much like the Tier 4 Black

over toward Yuri and Aina. However

orders we follow are mine.

want to respond, but Aina's delicate hand

problem. You seem to have strong sensory abilities, it's

voice was just as angelic as he remembered. He still couldn't wrap his mind around her actions. How could he like a

what Conrad had done. Maybe to some he deserved death. But Leonel just had a hard time crossing that line. Maybe he

words, Leonel stuffed the bracelet into the ragged pockets

James whispered

said with a bitter smile. "Don't worry

patted his shoulder and didn't