SATISFIED?

The fallout of the battle rocked the Human Domain. The slaughter of both the Spirituals Religion and the Suiards was akin to watching the fall of titans from their mountain. These two powers had always been seen to be on par with the Morales, and yet the Morales alone, after taking out twelve constellation families just weeks ago, followed through with a campaign that brought these two to their knees... And it was all led by Leonel Morales.

It felt like a curtain of silence had fallen over the Human Domain. It was inescapable. Many felt that such infighting, when they had only just survived the invasion of several Domains just months earlier, was inadvisable. If there was a scale of public perception, it had easily begun to swing from fear of the Morales, to a lambasting for their actions.

How could the public know of the intricate details of the events that had occurred? And even if they had an actual chance at knowing, would that mysterious figure, hidden in the background, and spurring on those very same flames of hatred, let it go so easily?

This was exactly what they wanted. To paint the Morales as savages, as demons that didn't understand the true weight of the situation, and there was no better mascot for their displaced fury than Velasco and his son after him.

Rumors of Velasco toying with the taboo and thus bringing down the rage of the Gods spread like wildfire. Watching as his son now led armies to take down families that had lived for countless generations only seemed to bolster these thoughts further. How could a child like Leonel possibly bring down these families if there wasn't something nefarious at play? Many even began to believe that if they really allowed the Morales to take control of the Human Domain, and thus left Leonel to be their de facto leader, rather than the Gods coming down to smite Velasco on his own, it might even be the whole Domain that was wiped from existence.

The moment this sort of paranoia grew legs, it soon grew wings and soared through the skies. It passed through countless ears and affected countless hearts, and it only grew worse as the details of the past events began to be spread in earnest.

First came news of just how thorough the destruction of the Spirituals Religion was.

The Spirituals Religion had quite a positive public perception in the eyes of many. They never led crusades like the other religions, and humans always had a sort of innate awe of the Spirituals. In addition, such a group of beautiful men and women, how could they possibly be hated? If it wasn't for the fact they only accepted Half Spirituals into their ranks, the largest religion in the Human Domain might actually be them.

And yet, Leonel had not only plundered their ancient formation, but he had razed their lands to the ground. The territory of the Spirituals Religion was just a single solar system unlike the Suiards that controlled many Sectors filled with many more galaxies, and so every act was akin to the impetus of a genocide.

Being so small, the Spirituals Religion simply had no large group of weaklings that the large families and organizations did. As such, Leonel had gone to each and every one of their planets, waging a bloody, one-sided war until he forced them all to their knees. And it was precisely this picture that the Human Domain received...

But this was nothing compared to what happened to the Suiards.

The Half Spirituals only suffered a loss of life. The Suiards, however, suffered a loss of dignity, of pride, even the willingness to raise their heads high had been crushed no different from when Leonel had kicked down their doors of their Sword Faction.

Maxx was chained to the front of Leonel's starship. Every battle, he was forced to watch as his Suiard family was crushed and split to pieces. The fervor of the Morales, as though unleashing a wave of countless years of animosity and hatred, spilled over like a tsunami.

The Holy Land of the Suiards were razed to the ground and their spirits were crushed.

Amery, their greatest hope, faced off against Leonel in battle once again. Legends of their battles had spread like wildfire, and many believed that another legend would be painted on this day so long as Leonel didn't use his King's Might Lineage Factor, and yet the result...

Leonel crushed Amery. There was no suspense. He didn't even bring out his spear, it simply wasn't necessary.

It wasn't until now many remembered... the last so-called legendary battle between these two had taken place when one was in the Sixth Dimension and the other was in the Seventh.

They were never on the same level to begin with.

One after another, the Ancestors of the Suiards were bound and captured, chained up and thrown into the dungeons of the Morales. It could be said that for the first time since the founding of the Suiard family...

Their capital lands were vacant and empty. Leonel might as well have burned the crops and salted the earth.

"For every Morales that dies, I will kill two Suiards." He had said those words, and he meant those words.

Locke, the envoy of the Suiards, truly had to watch as his home was burned to the ground.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

Leonel speculated that it was never Maxx that told him to speak those words. It might have been another Ancestor of the Suiards, or... it might very well have been that mysterious figure that had been goading him into a trap from the very beginning.

But none of it mattered.

...

"Are you satisfied?"

The voice was gruffer than before, but that made sense, considering Maxx's state.

Leonel glanced over but didn't care enough to say something. If Maxx wanted to avoid this, he should have never acted against him.

"Your grandfather would have never done this." Max continued, much of his hair covering his eyes.

Leonel didn't care to respond directly to that either.

"Rest up," Leonel said indifferently. "From now on, the Suiards will be the vanguard of the Morales."

A Force Art, complex enough to split one's mind if it was gazed at too closely, whirled in his palm.