Not...

Yuri and Savahn looked toward one another. The stress between their brows was almost too obvious for all to see. It felt like they were a pair of mothers trying to care for their child, but the problem was that this child had the strength to flatten a mountain with a single stomp of her feet.

Was it jealousy? Maybe it was a bit of that. But, from what Yuri and Savahn understood about the situation, it was very likely that Aina was seeing something beyond that, something that she simply hated to see.

Once again, Leonel was putting himself at risk for the sake of saving someone else. How many times had she already seen something like this?

The trouble here, though, was the fact that they weren't sure what this meant for Aina's personality. Was it returning? Or was it a child-like temper tantrum triggered by something unknown?

It was simply too hard to tell, and this wasn't exactly a situation where they would be able to tell either. The two worriedly looked toward Leonel. Even if it wasn't for Aina, they wouldn't want to see Leonel die here. But, if he really did die, who knew how it would affect Aina?

…

Hearing the clear taunt in Leonel's words, Orinik's fury was at risk of tipping completely over.

"Leave it be."

The sudden voice was like trinkling rain water, delicate and echoing. It was soothing to an almost impossible degree, and yet it washed over the arena with a momentum that made many freeze. The power behind it was so undeniable that no one seemed to even think of imagining the kind of beauty behind these words. Just the thought alone felt blasphemous.

It was suddenly obvious to everyone present that Orinik, Ganor and the others were only the face of what the Void Palace had presented… The true brawn hadn't bothered to appear… Maybe precisely because they were unworthy.

The only one who furrowed his brows at this voice was Leonel. There was something odd and artificial about it. Though the voice sounded beautiful, he was of the opinion that it would sound even better if it wasn't so strained.

Of course, he had no idea that his mother had changed the pitch of her voice slightly in the off chance that Leonel would recognize it. It seemed that she was right to be so 'cautious'. Maybe only Leonel would be sharp enough to parse apart the difference.

Leonel recovered quite quickly and nodded in thanks to seemingly empty air. Only after this did he lead Aulina away and allow the rest of the second round to continue.

Quite expectedly, no one dared to replicate what Leonel had done. The voice of the woman was like an imprint on their soul. She might have forgiven such a thing once, but who was to say that she would do so again?

"You didn't manage to stop him?" Ganor looked toward Orinik who had returned to their seating arrangements.

The truth was that if Orinik had been standing near the stage, Leonel would have never been able to save Aulina, at least not in time. However, because he hadn't seen much of a point in forcing himself to stand for the entirety of this day, he chose to return and sit, allowing the bill board to handle everything else.

Unfortunately, this put him on the opposite side of the arena to where Leonel had come from, so he could only use his aura. He had thought it would be enough, but he couldn't have possibly expected that Leonel would be able to ignore it.

Orinik's expression darkened, but he didn't give an answer.

Ganor's lazy gaze had likewise become quite sharp. Despite his usual demeanor, he took his role in the Void Palace quite seriously as well. If not for their overseer saying something, they would have acted as well.

"It won't happen again. I didn't expect someone to actually be so brazen. Next time, I will attack directly."

Orinik had wanted to disqualify Leonel and strip him of the right to participate, but after their overseer spoke, he would be looking down on her if he continued to pursue the matter. However, he would remember this.

…

"Why do you look so down?" Leonel smiled. He patted Aulina on the head, but she continued to look down at the ground.

Unshed tears threatened to spill over. If she wasn't scared about being an even greater burden by crying, maybe she would have already failed to hold them back.

Leonel sighed. "We can't win everything. Even though you failed this time, won't there be a next time?"

Aulina's shoulders trembled. She looked up to find Leonel's kind smile.

"Next… time?"

"Of course." Leonel reassured. "Isn't the only requirement that you be below the Sixth Dimension? Right now, you're only at Tier 2. Between now and the next cycle, how much will you grow? By then, who will be able to stop you?"

Hearing such words, Aulina suddenly felt a lot better. She didn't want to be left behind by everyone else, which of them here didn't have their own personal battle to fight?

Her small hands closed into fists. Two single streaks of tears fell down her cheeks as she forced a smile.

"Yes, next time." She said resolutely.

When the two made it back, Aulina was immediately smothered by Joyce. As scared as Aulina was to die, for a moment Joyce really thought she had lost her long time friend. The two cried in each other's arms for a long while…

Leonel took a deep breath, sitting by his grandmother's side. Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

"Grandma, am I too reckless?" Leonel suddenly asked.

"Yes. Yes, definitely."

Leonel smiled bitterly when he heard these words. But, he knew she was right.

The trouble was… If he wasn't reckless, then who would be? There were certain things he couldn't just sit idly by and watch. These were his comrades and brothers and sisters in arms… He couldn't just let them die when he knew he could do something.

Unfortunately, he knew that his actions had only painted an even larger target on the backs of the geniuses of Earth…

One after another, the rounds passed by. Numerous so-called 'geniuses' of Earth went up… But not a single one managed to pass.

[More coming later]