A transparent and golden barrier shot up, connecting the floor and ceiling along with protecting the King and Queen behind a seemingly unbreakable shield. 

The roar of a dragon sounded as an eastern version of the beast swirling about the barrier, tangling itself with other magnificent creatures of legends. Just with a glance, Leonel could see phoenixes, winged tigers, behemoths, centaurs, western dragons, unicorns, mermaids… 

The number felt endless and they all roared in unison. 

Even as the corpses of the royal guards splashed against the barrier, their blood incinerated to ash and wafted into the air. 

BANG!

Aina's blood scythe crashed into the barrier, but it barely rippled. It only took a single glance to tell how powerful this barrier was. Let alone killing the King and Queen in their state, it would take a powerful individual of the Quasi Seventh Dimension to even think of shaking it. 

The Dwarven Race weren't known for their combat prowess, but it was clear that this barrier was set up with the most powerful races of the Dimensional Verse in mind. It would definitely take a genius of the Sector Rank to shatter the barrier.

This was how the Dwarven Race closed the gap with other races. They focused on speed and evasion. Their senses were better than most and their bowmanship was especially profound. But, their greatest reliance were their traps. 

This trap, though, was far more profound than anything Leonel had seen them use up to this point. If their previous Force Arts could be considered crude, this was on a level all to its own. 

It was either the Dwarven Race had invited another race to draw it for them, something that was highly unlikely. Or, much like their usual scheming demeanors, they had lulled Leonel into a false sense of security with their 'crude' Force Arts, only to show their true strength when it really mattered. 

This Force Art formation was hidden beneath Seventh Dimensional materials. It was no wonder he hadn't detected it before. 

Leonel's pupils flickered. 'How clever.'

He and Aina were separated by over a hundred meters now and a swarm of royal guards were charging after the both of them, separating them further. On top of that, he had a feeling that the barrier wasn't finished just yet. 

Just as Leonel thought this, statues that lined the top of the throne room began to shake themselves awake. The spirits of the beasts stuck in the barrier swam out, diving through the marbled ground, up the walls, and fusing into the statues before roaring to life. 

The mythical beasts were instantly completely indistinguishable from the real thing, their stone bodies nowhere to be seen, replaced by scales, fur and rough skin that gave off a brimming vitality. 

The beasts roared, their heads cocking back and before snapping forward to release beams of light that shot for Leonel and Aina. 

Leonel's figure flashed, appearing before the royal guards that were trying to close in on him in an instant. His plan was obvious. These beams wouldn't dare to continue hitting him if they were just harming their own kind. 

But, to Leonel's shock, the beams cut right through the bodies of the Pixies and Sparrows, not harming a hair on their heads before appearing before his chest in the blink of an eye. 

Leonel's eyes bulged, sending this information to Aina instantly before a roar left his lips. 

He spun to the spin, narrowly avoiding the beam. But, a trail of scorched skin was left on his chest as a line was ripped through his Void Palace uniform. 

Leonel's gaze became cold, his skin blazing to life with Bronze Runes that peeked through the hole in his robes. The wound on his chest healed quickly, but it was still far slower than he had expected for his current Healing Factor. 

BANG!

The doors to the throne room slammed close as the previously cowering nobles began to swarm Leonel and Aina. 

It was only then Leonel realized that even their previous fear and cowardice was all an act. They wanted to trap Leonel and Aina, to push them to the point they would have difficulty escaping any longer. Suddenly, the enemies the couple had to face increased by a hundredfold. 

Leonel's eyes flashed, his steps light and quick as he weaved through several attacks, beams of light continuously attacking him from above. 

Sliding his bow onto his back again, Leonel's palm flipped over to reveal his spear. 

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

He was forced several steps back, the room he had to maneuver becoming smaller and smaller. 

Leonel's brow furrowed. He needed to find the flaw of this formation but all of this commotion was making it difficult. His Internal Sight was being interfered with, and he was certain that it was another trick of the Dwarven Race. 

His Starry Spirit Domain was just fine, but even with his tails deployed, its maximum range was only five meters. If he wanted to scan this entire room, he would need to do it piece by piece. But, with its size… 

Leonel's gaze became frighteningly cold. 

** 

In the Void Palace, a day had already passed and the bets were only growing. Orinik couldn't help but grin ear to ear. He didn't even need to bet, he just needed to take a small percentage and he would be drowning in more Void Points than he would know how to spend. 

Originally, he had thought that he would only have lower level Galaxy Ranked disciples participating, but after news of Treanna's wild bid was spread—strategically by him, of course—the heat for these events ramped up far more than even tenfold could account for. 

By this point, some Factions had even begun sending their scouts to linger around the Zone, making a once dead region far livelier than it had been in a very long time. 

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In another part of the Void Palace, Amery opened and closed his hand, checking how well it had healed. 

At that moment, a servant knocked and entered, relaying information about the commotion to the Sword Deity.