OPAQUE WHITENESS
Leonel felt a spark fly through his Dreamscape, but he said nothing. Other than a slightly odd expression, which is about what one would expect for seeing such a scene for the first time, he gave nothing else away.
Aina's reaction was even more visceral.
Leonel knew how Aina had ignored her Blood Sovereignty for much of her life for fear of how it might appear, namely to him. Even after he said having a vampire girlfriend was cool, it took her quite some time to come into her own.
Seeing this sort of scene, and how truly disgusting it was, she felt all of that suppressed disgust come back up all at once.
One of the young men laughed.
"Haha, little beauty, have you never seen a real masculine man before? Real men eat flesh and drink blood."
Leonel's gaze flashed with undisguised frigidness.
"Real men catch their own prey. If you want to flex your muscles, go do it elsewhere."
Leonel's words were biting, and the embarrassment on the young man's expression was clear, even as it quickly turned to rage.
"What did you say to me, slave?!"
Leonel didn't respond, staring at the man as he stood to his full height. The latter's embarrassment returned when he realized that he was actually half a head shorter than Leonel, but that didn't stop his blood-covered snarl from echoing.
The young man seemed to remember that Mo''Lexi was there and restrained himself somewhat. He glared into Leonel's eyes and spoke word by word.
"Watch your mouth in the future. You're nothing but a butcher, a farmer, a convenient transport. Am I supposed to catch every meal I have with my own hands? Don't give yourself more credit than you deserve."
The young man snorted, feeling that his appetite was ruined. He placed the demon within his spatial device and then left after bowing to Mo''Lexi.
The other two laughed to themselves and then left as well after giving Leonel a glance. Though, he didn't miss how their eyes lingered on Aina at all.
Mo''Lexi didn't say anything as they left, but she looked at Leonel with an amused light in her eye.
"That look in your eye, those are your real eyes, huh?" Mo''Lexi asked.
Leonel had already gone back to his servile expression and didn't seem to understand what Mo''Lexi was getting at.
"Still with the games, hm? If you see me as a Goddess, then anyone I bring along with me should have that status as well, no? Why did you not give them their due respect?"
Leonel's eyes widened. "Is that so? I was unaware! I will apologize to him immediately."
Leonel spoke seriously and seemed to have completely forgotten about his initial rage.
"I assumed that they were Seeded Participants like me, but with a more official title. I'm sorry."
Mo''Lexi's eyes narrowed.
"Here is your list of duties for the next month. For the both of you," she emphasized.
"Yes, I understand!" Leonel nodded.
Mo''Lexi disappeared, and Leonel immediately left, his target quite obvious. He was going to go and apologize.
"Excuse me! Sir!" Leonel called out, swiftly catching up to the young man.
Mo''Lexi saw this and shook her head. After a sigh, she truly vanished. She didn't have the stomach to see this sort of thing.
The young man's eyes flashed with confusion when he saw that it was actually Leonel, and he was even more stunned when he saw the expression on the latter's face.
What happened to him? Wasn't he just so arrogant?
In truth, he had been planning to find Leonel after Mo''Lexi disappeared to teach him a lesson.
He couldn't even react as Leonel apologized profusely and then rushed off to do his "duties".
For some reason... the young man felt so completely... unsatisfied.
"What was that, Bogrum? The little twerp actually came to apologize to you?" Another one of the young men came in with a laugh.
Bogrum, Bryan, and Elek, these were the names of the three young men of the Cult. © content.
In truth, their status wasn't very high, despite Bogrum's arrogance. They were quite surprised when they were called over for such a reward.
To be able to drink demon blood, what kind of boon was that? They were highly excited.
It was too bad that Leonel had ruined their moods.
"Yes... he did," Bogrum replied somewhat slowly, still not quite understanding what had just happened.
Suddenly, he felt angry again, but he didn't know where to vent it.
"Ah, Senior Alastar!"
Bryan and Elek's reactions snapped Bogrum out of his daze, and he quickly bowed as well.
Their current location would probably be best described as an airplane hanger, although there were definitely no airplanes in sight. The floors were smooth and a shade away from glossy, the ceiling was tall and filled with glass, and crates were piled up everywhere, formed of wood, though some were made of stone.
There were huge lanes between these crates, and it was possible to see for tens of kilometers ahead without end. Alastar had easily been almost 50 kilometers away from them, but they were already bowing. And soon, it became clear why.
Alastar appeared before them in no more than a few seconds, pausing for a moment and then sniffing the air.
The three froze, their fists clenching. They thought that maybe their reward might end up being stolen by Alastar, but what he said next caught them off guard.
"I smell a woman, an excellent woman..."
They weakly looked up at Alastar's face, only to see those eyes of white opaqueness.
"Oh god, I think I'm going to die. Massage a little bit firmer please."
Leonel's voice echoed out as Aina massages his temples. He really felt like he might vomit any time now, not because he was sick, or hurt, but because the cringe was about to kill him.
Aina giggled. "Who asked you to be so forthcoming? That woman already disappeared after you called out the first time; you didn't need to follow through on the apology."
"Ai-!"
Leonel was about to make another joke, maybe even con himself into a few cheap kisses, but his expression turned unprecedentedly serious a moment later.
"Go inside."
Aina didn't say a word and vanished into the Segmented Cube.
Barely a moment later, a hulking man appeared, his shadow looming over Leonel to the point the latter had to look straight up.
'... Variant Invalid.'
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Erdiul's Notes: We are truly going full circle.