Dimensional Descent

Orinik's pupils constricted into pinholes. He wasn't a fool, he could tell that Leonel wasn't baiting him. That sort of confident, indifferent gaze, as though it didn't matter even if Orinik got on his knees and swore to the high Heavens that he wasn't involved with Third Nova, told him everything he needed to know.

Orinik had spent his life plotting and scheming. Even Rychard and Montero had no idea where his truest allegiances lied, although Rychard did know a bit more about it. And yet, with just a single slip up, Leonel had seen right through him.

Back then, when Leonel was first entering the Void Palace, no one knew who he was. Even to his own cousins and fellow Nova Heirs he was a nobody. He had never stepped foot into the family, and other than the fact they had a vague idea that he was Velasco's son, there was nothing else.

There was no news about him, he had awakened his Lineage Factors quite late compared to the rest of them, and he was stuck far away in the Milky Way. No one had any idea he was coming to the Void Palace that year, for all they knew he would never come.

Velasco was always a wildcard to begin with, and he had a huge vendetta against the Void Palace, it wasn't too impossible to believe that he wouldn't send Leonel at all, it was quite easy to accept, in fact.

So the question was, how did it seem like Third Nova was prepared?

Manipulating the Senate into taking action wasn't something that could happen in the spur of the moment. What about gaining information about the Rapax and the importance of their next round of birthed eggs? Or maneuvering matters so that the Senate could vote out the Stalwart Polearm Party and reduce them back to a Legacy Faction?

All of these were things that took time and effort. This meant that Xavnik had to have had someone who informed him long ahead of time that Leonel was present and would be coming, and who better than Orinik who had been sent to oversee the Selection in the first place?

When you looked at things that way, it almost seemed too obvious. Leonel felt quite foolish that he hadn't seen it before, but now that everything was in line, he finally felt that a weight on his shoulders had vanished.

Leonel's lip curled when he saw Orinik hesitate. "Go ahead and use your badge to escape, it'll only make things easier on me."

Orinik shivered as he remembered the words Leonel had spoken earlier. Could it be that the Morales really had acted on his behalf? Orinik couldn't risk such a thing, he would be crushed without even knowing what happened. How could he match up to an Ancestor? They could probably kill him with a single glance.

Suddenly, Rychard roared, his fury bubbling over. A heavy black-violet rod appeared in his hands as he swung down with all his might, aiming for Leonel's head as he crossed the distance between them.

the peculiarity of Rychard's Violet Force, and he could also feel that the latter's strength had exponentially increased just now. He took a step back and side stepped, gliding out of the

of his Violent Force that he neglected practically

way and support me from the back! You're

Leonel had already taken a step forward and swung a strong fist at his abdomen. He didn't want to kill Rychard. In fact, he didn't want to kill any one of them. Of course, that wasn't because he was soft hearted, but rather because he wanted what they

was a perfect fit for the Tentacle

Rychard allowed himself to be hit just so that he could gain a path of retreat. Before Leonel could pursue, he suddenly felt a hint

BANG!

sabers that Leonel couldn't take

and Leonel's gaze turned malevolent. He was uncaring and indifferent a moment ago, but all of a

enough to lose even his weapons.

tell them apart from mass produced instances of such weapons. But who were normal Crafters compared to Leonel? He could practically see a Craft down to its molecular

"What happened to Auran?"

say anything, his gaze flashing with a greenish violet light as an explosion of poison fog filled

swapped places with one of his

"That poison…"

it had come right from Orinik's body as though it was a Lineage Factor or Ability

his Dark Force… Is Orinik a demon too? Something isn't

poison demons before, he had

to most poisons. Even the ones he wasn't immune to, he had Cleansing Waters to deal with. However, due to the current state of things, he didn't carry

due to the suppression of this world, everyone reacted like normal Third Dimensional existences would. They needed to sleep once a day, they needed food and they needed water. The only way to deal with these easily was to use

he was a bit hesitant