Dimensional Descent

Leonel scanned the room calmly. "I thought long and hard about why it was that an existence like the Demoness would care so much about this matter, but then someone told me a little story, a story about Godlike beings finding the Human Race to be extremely convenient test experiments for their paths.

"Then it all clicked for me. The Morales were convenient lab rats, and my grandfather was probably a man who broke through certain barriers that the Demoness was looking for. So, she chose to sire a child, a child who ended up being quite a success in my father, and she even managed to reproduce the success with my uncle.

"But it was all so very curious. My uncle was clearly far less powerful than my father, so why was that? Why would she purposely seal away one of her sons and only allow one of them to thrive?

"I didn't know the answer to this one either, at least not initially. But then..." Leonel laughed, letting his words hang for a bit. "I bet you're seeing a little bit of a pattern here, aren't you? I don't know something, and then I suddenly conveniently do. It's enough to drive you crazy. Is it really because you're so smart, so intelligent? Or is it because I'm being manipulated again?"

Seeing the glare he was getting, Leonel's smile deepened, and he didn't seem to mind it. The charisma that exuded from him was palpable, but all these Ancestors could feel was that uncomfortable uncertainty that they too were being manipulated.

"But then," Leonel continued, "I learned of the Dream Plane. It is worse than a two-way street, it's a street of infinite lanes and paths, ones that can be used by a countless number of people. I wondered if the Demoness was making so many moves in this small world, just how many of them could be hidden? If she could even sense her name being spoken, what could bad actors sense should they wish to do so?

"So, she took precautions. She only allowed one of her sons to thrive. She didn't take action when her sperm donor died. And she even split the Lineage Factor she was working on into several pieces until the time was ripe.

the Morales, keeping many of you in the dark, splitting you into factions, stirring the confusion to the point that even

her precious Lineage Factor into one, and I'm also the one that needs to succeed in

scratches getting on me, now could she? I'm her precious lab rat-I mean, grandson. She also can't let me risk my safety anymore than I already have, so how could she let me use my bloodline freely? That would make it possible for her enemies to sense me and that

was still there, but it was decidedly dark and cold. The chill in the room now had far less to do with the Ancestors, and those that had

on them. It was the kind of heart-rending pressure that made them all want to

First came astonished relief, then confusion, then a hint of embarrassment, then rage, before it all

really played them

me, I am not a bloodthirsty person, especially not toward my family. You say that I turned the Human Domain against you all, but I'll say it again. The Human Domain is

I've already accomplished, then say so now. Because if I learn of

you to be a separate faction, and I would also

blankly, not quite knowing what to say or so. He didn't understand what was going on, but judging by the situation, Leonel had