Dimensional Descent

Even after the voice had long since vanished, the pain in Leonel's chest dulled just as slowly as before. It felt that he was still somewhere in the background, hiding and slowly turning down his pain as though there was some sort of hidden dial that he could tweak up or down.

It was extremely frustrating, but there was something about being on your knees and being entirely unable to fight back that left one without the same room to grow angry. It was almost as though he had been forced into submission. One part of his body was billowing with rage, and the other part, the part that was still fueled with that pain that was dulling far too slowly, was bearing down like a wet blanket, suffocating his flame.

Leonel was so infuriated that he roared, but as though it had sensed it, the pain heightened and what should have been a mighty roar capable of causing a mountain to collapse and a planet to quake came out instead like a muffled whimper.

This time, the redness in Leonel's eyes came out far different than the past. Tears threatened to spill over, the frustration blowing over to the point he felt like throwing a fit as though he was nothing more than a child. The only thing that stopped them from falling was his pride. That sort of sickening voice in the back of his head that told him that that man might still be watching, and even if he wasn't, he was Leonel Morales.

He didn't know where such thoughts came from. He didn't think himself to have such strong emotions about crying in the past, he never really thought about it, the same way he hadn't really thought about what it meant to kneel. He had definitely cried in the past, but it wasn't something that lingered on his mind, making him feel as though he was less of a man.

But now it did feel that way, though maybe not for the reasons it seemed to be. Rather, it felt like he would be acknowledging something.

Those tears that had fallen when he knew his father had died had dried up as quickly as they had formed. They didn't get the chance to sit and stew, to stir his soul and vent out all the frustration that wanted to rush out from his heart like a swimming tide.

tight tube that caused his neck to spasm. His heaving breaths couldn't

roads. Nothing about them seemed to be beautiful any longer. When he had first entered this world, it had felt to

what if it was by one's own weakness? Somewhere inside, Leonel knew that that man had definitely vanished, he knew that such a man couldn't be bothered to stay in a single place for even one moment

any longer. That was just a darkness sitting in the pit of his chest, overwhelming and

shaded black coming out. He clawed with everything he had, almost as though he could pull it back, to

had always been a façade, right? He had always been able to compartmentalize with great ease, right? He could easily flip his

ache getting worse? Why was

It was his final attempt, the last bit of strength he had left to push it away, to wrench his control

It echoed into the emptiness, reverberating into the

had nothing to give. He couldn't remember the last time he

again, saliva and a