ALL ROADS

Leonel could feel what they were trying to do. Noah was right about their attempts to find a method of isolating the variables that made them a Sovereign and then duplicating it. But the method in which they chose to do so was quite sinister.

Ultimately, they understood that the truth was located within the soul, and they wanted to grasp this. The trouble was that the soul was almost impossible to observe for a human, namely because it was fused with the body.

They were using a method that separated the two, and they even told Leonel not to resist it. The problem was that if this method was perfectly safe, they would have used it on themselves already. Unfortunately, their methods had a fatal flaw, and that was that it completely separated the soul from the body.

This sounded like it was a positive thing. After all, wasn't that the goal?

The trouble was that that was only true when Leonel or anyone else was explaining the matter casually. In reality, completely separating the body from the soul meant only one thing: death.

After Leonel had completely succeeded in separating his soul, there was always a lingering connection remaining. It was this lingering connection that gave him life.

The method of the Godlens would have him walking around like a zombie.

Still, these were matters that Leonel had already guessed before he came here. After all, Noah's existence was an obvious red flag. The fact they pretended like he was normal told him everything he needed to know.

No, what was truly shocking to him was something entirely different. If he had to describe it, it was like they were concentrating the vileness of the human race's plans into a single foul action instead of a genocidal one. © content.

Leonel couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Was this what his grandfather had meant by they had the greater good in mind?

They were trying to isolate his soul and turn it into a rune not too dissimilar from a portion of the Force Arts that Ryu had seen so many times in the Silver Tablet.

The trouble was that it didn't seem like the Godlens had a tablet, so for all intents and purposes they were using all of this machinery to replace its function, and they were going to try and turn Leonel into the core of it all.

Essentially, he was just becoming a different kind of farm animal, one they used to study and observe the path of Sovereignty, so that they could hopefully replicate it.

'Okay, I gotcha...'

Leonel turned his attention away from what was happening around him to pay attention to the serum they had injected him with. It wasn't necessarily what they said it was either.

It was too late for regret, not that regret would matter much. Liana definitely wouldn't have allowed him to reject the serum.

In that case, the best option was to let them assume that they were close to succeeding, when in reality they were quite far away. Then they would try to tweak the setup rather than getting rid of him entirely.

Leonel smiled bitterly. The life of the weak was truly hell.

He didn't know why they had suddenly tried to take the final step with him like this. According to his guesses, it would have been at least a month or two before they went so far.

But he didn't have to think long to understand. Who else could have put her finger on the scale if not Simona?

Leonel slowly "drifted" off to sleep. According to the reading Liana was getting, he had entered quite a deep sleep as well.

After a few minutes, she nodded to herself and began another round.

The instrumentation shuddered and a soft light began to glow. It grew larger and larger until it began to pulse and vibrate.

Liana frowned. Even now, it was actually struggling so much? How could the mind of a Fifth Dimensional existence be so powerful?

Unbeknownst to her, Leonel was perfectly conscious. He had sensed the strength of the instruments before when he broke through them the first time. This time, from 10%, he lowered his inhibitions further until just about 0.13% was still active. If he was correct, this should be just enough to make it a struggle that he barely won in the end.

Of course, he didn't believe himself to be infallible, so he was constantly paying attention, not wanting to completely fall through the cracks.

...

In a separate space, there was a gathering of just two, both of whom Leonel would recognize. One was Vivak, and the other was Matriarch Pyius, Simona's mother.

Vivak had a slight frown on his expression. Leonel should have been the perfect specimen, but he had ended up listening to his daughter's words and trying to limit the potential variables by getting things over with as swiftly as possible.

Seeing things now, he felt that he had been correct to do so. Why were they still unable to corral the mind of a Fifth Dimensional brat?

BANG!

The sound reverberated, and though Vivak's expression didn't change, he knew what happened. They had failed.

Vivak stood in silence as he watched Liana duck for cover.

"I've said that I don't believe he's the best tool to use for this job," Matriarch Pyius spoke lightly. "His soul is tainted with Destruction Sovereignty. It's hard enough to isolate one variable without having to worry about others."

"I understand. I mostly pressed forward because of Simona's warning."

"You believe him to be a danger as well?"

"I believe that in these moments, any variables can ruin everything. Something that can't be controlled isn't worth having around. Since we can't take his soul, it's best to just directly kill him and store what remains."

Matriarch Pyius fell into silence for a long while before she replied.

"How do you want to do it?"

Vivak's eyes narrowed.

"I want to see what this child is hiding first. I feel that the more I think about Simona's words, the odder he is..."

After some thought, he spoke again.

"Use him as a sparring partner for the young. They don't need to hold back. When someone is forced into a corner, they'll reveal their true colors."

"And then what?"

"If his true colors are as Simona says, then we'll kill him. If they're not, we'll see if Liana can improve her methods and then try this again. If she cannot, then we'll kill him."

The Matriarch's gaze flickered. It seemed that her husband had decided. One way or another, all paths led to death.