Dimensional Descent

Leonel's head paused, his fists trembling. He didn't dare to look up. But, just as easily as he had been able to see Normand's face back then, he could just as easily see Rollan's.

He could see the reddening of Rollan's blue eyes, the tears streaming down his cheeks, the tight grit of his teeth. Leonel could almost see the reflection of Elise in Rollan's eyes, he could feel how heavy the weight of the words he had just spoken were.

They didn't just represent his willingness to die, they represented a willingness to leave his wife behind to a life of loneliness and pain. It was a weight of a completely different magnitude, it was the kind of weighted words no husband ever wanted to speak… no father ever wanted to say.

Leonel knew well that Elise had found out that she was pregnant not long ago. He knew well that Rollan knew this truth as well. He even knew that Goggles' had sacrificed himself knowing this about as well as any one of them did.

And yet, Rollan still spoke these words.

Leonel felt the burden on his back increase once again, his limbs quaking and tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He was so shaken that he completely didn't realize that Rollan's form of address had changed.

Alexandre didn't interrupt, a cold smile curling his lip. Interrupting now would only make them resolve themselves even quicker. He didn't want to push Leonel one way or another. He wanted Leonel to feel the weight of the decision himself.

He had already made his ultimatum as clear as it came. If Leonel didn't bow down, he would kill them all one by one. He didn't need to say anything more.

Seeing Leonel struggle, Rollan smiled, his eyes closing as the rain washed away his tears.

"We… have already made… our choice… King."

Leonel's heart trembled.

He thought back to that day Rollan and Elise marched through their small town and stormed the Lord's Manor. Despite being a feeble and petite woman, Elise held onto the heaviest weapon she could with both hands and walked side by side with her husband.

That day, neither of them knew what to expect. They had no idea what kind of strength Leonel had. For all they knew, that was the final day they would be on this earth together. Yet, they had still done it… together.

Leonel remembered asking Rollan how he had managed to hold together his emotions and make such a decision. As powerful as Aina was now, if there ever came a time where Leonel surpassed her by a large margin and had to enter a dangerous situation… He simply couldn't imagine taking her with him. He would rather face death alone and protect her to his back.

the response he received from Rollan back then was far simpler than anything

I asked her if she was willing to share

the point it seemed he just might

His skin sizzled and his eyes regained their

"Are you willing?"

penetrating power that seemed to

closed. Images of his wife and what his unborn child might have looked like swirled

willing,

his smile forever dipped in crimson that even the rain didn't seem capable

in the air, echoing throughout the

such a thing. Even though he hadn't taken action, he had known the

more than ants to him. He had merely allowed Goggles to do as he pleased because he decided that the emotional damage would be far more if things happened in this way. He had

yet… what was happening

hands and knees still on the ground and

"I am willing."

on his face as he plunged a

"I am willing."

in the skies, his heart trembling

"I am willing."

"I am willing."

his fists tighter and tighter, the weight

legs trembled, his body threatening to collapse to the floor. Every voice that sounded out shook him to the core. He just wanted to shout

it in, listening to each and every one of

laughed into the skies as his eyes dimmed,

"Farewell, My King!"