Hm?

Monkey began to wither away, his roars growing fainter.

Leonel was stunned as he reached forward, but everything happened too quickly. Soon, what was left of Monkey became nothing more than a pile of ash, leaving Leonel absolutely baffled. Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

'What the hell just happen here?'

Little Blackstar jumped into action without waiting for Leonel's command, snagging a shadow out of the air before returning. However, Leonel hardly registered the little guy's actions.

Leonel's brow furrowed tightly, his emotions whirling about and his mind in a fog. He had truly wanted to give Monkey a chance and it was most definitely not his own action that caused the latter to end up like that.

Leonel hadn't been shocked that Monkey was roaring in rage, it made sense. The last time they met, he was battling Leonel. If Leonel blamed him for this, it wouldn't have been fair, that was why Leonel was still willing to try and calm him down first.

But reality was both cruel and unexpected. Leonel had no idea what could have happened to cause this, but he was left completely in shock, unable to speak a single word for a long while.

The reason for this was simple… For the first time in his life, he had no explanation for what was before him. There was no spark in his Dreamscape, no small clue he could grasp on, no immaculate, god level deduction to make…

There was simply nothing.

The snowglobe should have preserved Monkey in an absolutely perfect state. The only plausible explanation seemed to be that Monkey had run to the end of his ability and didn't have anymore strength to duplicate his cells and heal himself anymore, but the snowglobe should have frozen that process entirely.

That left only one possibility: Whatever caused this had to have happened before Leonel put Monkey in the snowglobe. But, this possibility seemed even more impossible than the first.

After several minutes, Leonel couldn't find a reason nor could he find any clues. Without a choice, he closed his eyes, sighing deeply.

Someone was toying with him. And he didn't like it one bit.

**

"This is it, Leo? This thing is disgusting."

Allan, aside from being obsessed with a physique he hid beneath baggy clothes, was also the well known clean freak of the group. Seeing the disgusting tentacle womb before him, despite the fact it was behind a thick wall of glass, he still couldn't' help but gag as though he could smell it from here.

Leonel chuckled. "It's pretty useless the way it is now, but it has potential."

"You're thinking of using that hell spore on it, huh?"

"I actually don't know quite yet. Remember Little Blackstar's ability? I have something much better for it to absorb now…"

Allan blinked before he nodded in understanding.

"Then you want me to…?"

"You're probably the only one who's smart enough to manage this. If I leave it to the others, I'll probably find this thing dead by the time I return."

"Are you calling me dumb, Cap? Where's the worker's union? I want to propose a strike!" Franco yelled out in indignation.

Allan, however, seemed to hear something completely different.

"You're leaving?"

"Nope." Leonel shook his head. "I actually plan on managing the tentacle womb myself. It's just that I've realized that I've left you all in the dark about too many things until now. In fact, you all don't even know what my goal is, even though you likely know me well enough to have guessed by now."

Leonel suddenly felt a strong arm envelop his shoulder. He looked to the side and up to find Raj's big faced grin looking back at him.

"Tell us, Cap. How much of it are we conquering?"

Leonel saw eight pairs of eyes looking back at him, each one with their own level of fervor. He couldn't help but grin himself. As expected, it seemed like he didn't have to say a single word.

"All of it."

**

Leonel strolled through the Imperial Capital, his steps not very hurried as he looked around. This was probably the first time he came while also having the time to leisurely stroll around.

The war couldn't technically be considered over as there were still several skirmishes still ongoing on the border of Earth's territory. But, from what it looked like, it didn't seem that they would be ending any time soon. Those individuals wouldn't stop until Earth simply grew too powerful for them to even dare. But, with the current state of things, it would definitely take some time before they got there.

Leonel eventually made it to the Imperial Palace and the guards were still as stiff as they always were. But, Leonel just ignored them as he usually did. The difference was that this time, none of them reached out to stop him.

At the large, arching doorways, Leonel's uncle Galaeron already stood waiting, still wearing his spectacles as always. This man always seemed to be quite rigid.

"You're on time." Galaeron spoke.

Though his voice was quite even, he seemed to have been trying to convey surprise. Clearly he didn't expect this out of Leonel.

Leonel raised an eyebrow. "Punctuality is the foundation of any man."

Galaeron's brows shot up this time. He looked toward Leonel deeply, a hint of something else in his eye.

"I heard that you're on better terms with my son?"

Leonel grinned. "Are you scared I'll steal him away from the Empire?"

"Cheeky…" Galaeron stopped himself, realizing he was sinking into Leonel's rhythm. This was something that usually only happened to him when he spoke with his father or… When he spoke with his brother-in-law. To think…

Galaeron shook his head. "Come with me."

Soon, the pair had entered a familiar garden and Leonel laid eyes on a man who was now much younger than he remembered him. But, he didn't think much of it. There were probably odd twists and turns around this that he wasn't quite aware of and didn't quite matter for now.

Emperor Fawkes opened his eyes and looked Leonel up and down. The two remained in silence for a long while before he spoke.

"Not bad."

"You're not bad either." Leonel replied. "Too bad you're a mass murderer."

Galaeron's brow furrowed, but Emperor Fawkes just laughed.

"I have a feeling that the blood on your hands will be much denser than mine when all is said and done. That is the difference between a King and an Emperor. You can't escape that reality."

Leonel's gaze narrowed, but he remained silent.

"This aside, your mother has contacted me."

"Hm?"

"She's waiting for you and Noah on Planet Luxnix. Feel free to go over whenever. I have to say, I'm quite eager to watch this play out."