IT SEEMS...
Leonel didn't do anything immediately. There was simply no point. If he rushed to save these people, then what?
That would only be a temporary solution. By the time he got back to these people, they might be caught again, or even killed for the insolence of daring to escape in the first place.
He simply scanned through the iron collars just a single time before continuing forward. With that glance, he understood their properties and what they were designed to do, not to mention the fact he understood how to take them off without harming those that wore them.
He didn't try to hide himself at all. The presence of a human walking, and so very clearly at that without a collar, was shocking to many.
Some humans-scouts that had been sent forward to get a lay of the land and report back with the treasures they found, mostly likely-tried to communicate to him with their eyes that it wasn't safe, clearly not daring to say anything outwardly, but it was all useless.
What was interesting was that some of these humans didn't recognize Leonel at all. This made Leonel wonder and think of something.
Could these humans not be from the Human Domain? Was that why they were chained?
This possibility made some of Leonel's coldness dissipate somewhat. It wasn't that he cared less about humans, not of the Human Domain, but it was rather that if these people had always been slaves, then it likely meant that the other races hadn't acted on the humans in his absence.
There was a possibility that such a thing would have happened regardless of Leonel's actions, but he would be a fool if he believed that it had absolutely nothing to do with his actions.
He had embarrassed the invading armies, and then his father had slaughtered their Emperors. As though that wasn't enough, he added insult to injury and massacred their people.
The first two were already enough for them to have a tidal wave of hatred for him, let alone the final of the three.
Leonel ignored the glances he received from the humans, crossing those hundreds of kilometers that remained step by step until he laid eyes on the Seeded Participant.
'It's him.'
These were all the thoughts Leonel had. He didn't raise his brows in shock, nor did he speak any words.
He would recognize that young man anywhere, and even more so the Bow Domain Ring on his finger. He was the Heir of the Spiritual Clan that had stolen the Bow Domain ring from Nazag's family.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
He was led by a procession of warriors, covered by all sorts of races. There were Nomads, there were Rapax, there were the Dwarvens, and of course, the Spirituals.
Leonel was just one man in front of this army of hundreds of thousands. But what he was thinking about had nothing to do with the number disparity at all. He only had a single thought...
Where were the rest?
There should have been billions of participants from the Dimensional Verse. So, why were there only a few thousands scouts and an army of mere hundreds of thousands?
He could sense it quite clearly. Each member of this army was an elite of the elite. It was possible that they had simply abandoned the rest to their own devices. After all, they only needed so many scouts.
Many were surprised to see Leonel. As for why, it was twofold, only one of those reasons being that he had embarrassed a large number of them during the initial invasion of the Human Domain.
As for the second reason, Leonel didn't have the proper context to understand what it was.
Amidst the army, a youth of the Nomads looked toward Leonel with a searing hatred in his eyes. Prince Gregwyn wanted nothing more than to jump out and shred Leonel to pieces, but his greater judgment won out.
This was a man that had massacred the Ancestors of his people like they were puppets on a string, what could he do to them if he so chose to?
'Wait... Fifth Dimension?'
Gregwyn felt his heart beating out of his chest. Was this an opportunity?
However, he still didn't act. Back then, Leonel was only in the Sixth Dimension, and he still slaughtered his Ancestors. Did this make a difference?
That said... even after the Spirituals did all of that stuff to the Human Domain, Leonel never appeared, not once. Could there be a limit to the strength that he could display? If he could have always displayed that power, then why did he pretend to be so weak during the Invasion?
In fact, it was possible that Leonel had taken on a huge backlash for that power, which was why he was not in the Fifth Dimension.
The more he thought, the fiercer Gregwyn's gaze became.
...
Leonel swept a gaze over everyone until his eyes landed on the beasts pulling the cart forward.
They were a long line of dozens of power bear beasts, each shimmering with a slightly golden sheen.
The first time he looked past them, he didn't care to take a second look. However, he felt something nudge him, something from the Dream Plane.
Why were those bears looking at him, telling him to run as well?
Leonel closed his eyes even as Gregwyn's sneer deepened.
His brothers. Raj, Joel, Milan...
His cousins. Auran, Valor, even the innocent Fifth Nova.
Morales children. Tommie and Nora, he could see them both.
When Leonel opened his eyes, there was nothing but indifference within. The unending, furious tempest of rage that Gregwyn wanted to see wasn't there at all. It was just a deep, abyssal blackness.
Instead, it was Little Blackstar who stood over Leonel's shoulder that growled. This simple action made their chests rumble and their bones rattle.
Leonel did nothing to calm down the little mink as he stared forward.
Looking from Gregwyn to the others and finally to the Spirituals Prince, his lips finally parted.
"It seems that I didn't kill enough of you."