WHO?!

Leonel frowned. 'Why can't anything be easy?'

He had already entered within striking range of the technique room. It was actually part of the library, just in a higher space.

He had scouted it the first time he came here, and that had been enough to know that it wasn't a place that was frequented often.

This made sense. A person might spend years trying to perfect and grow with a technique. Unless you were sprinting through the Dimensions, something only a stupid person or one lacking background would do, a technique would need to stay by your side for at least that long.

Due to this, the technique room of the Godlens was one that was only visited once in a blue moon, and yet the moment Leonel wanted to raid them, he found that Simona and that young man he still didn't know the name of had actually entered.

'Maybe it's not bad luck but just poor timing,' Leonel said with a sigh.

Simona had only just returned from the Dimensional Verse, and her foundation was probably lacking due to the fact she hadn't had her little violet puppy by her side for much of her life.

It wouldn't be a surprise if for the first few weeks, she had been focused on readjusting her foundation, and only now did she think about gathering a few techniques to strengthen herself.

'This isn't necessarily a bad thing either,' Leonel thought, looking at the silver lining.

Under normal circumstances, he would have to break the restrictions on the technique vault in order to enter. There were a million things that could go wrong if he did that, and he knew he was being quite reckless just thinking about doing it.

But now, wouldn't there be a convenient doorman to let him in?

Leonel sneered and flashed forward.

The young man suddenly looked back, but all he saw was empty space, causing him to frown.

Leonel hung from a balcony down below. Although he was in the Shadow World, he still did his best to not allow others the chance to look at him directly, at least not for now.

He flipped himself back up after the two started moving forward again. He landed gently, moving along the balcony's lane as he followed them upward.

He wasn't worried about Little Blackstar's stamina running out at all. Back when Blackstar first met him, he was only able to help Leonel out for a brief instant. Now, however, he could probably spend days like this without issue.

"Elder Varough, I would like to enter the technique room," Simona addressed an old man.

Elder Varough sat behind a desk that was off to the side of a thick vault door that looked as though it had been plucked out of a bank dungeon.

He hummed slightly to Simona's request.

"You know the rules," he said lightly. "Eduardo, are you using your entry on this?"

The young man nodded before Simona could reject.

"You don't have to follow me everywhere," Simona protested, but as usual, Eduardo didn't even respond. He just gave her the same unmoved look.

"Alright, you may both enter. You have one hour. Don't try to force it, not all the techniques in there are meant for you. Protect your mind properly."

Hearing these vague words, Leonel's eyes narrowed. It seemed that this technique room would be more like the Void Library than a real library like the one below them. That might make things more troublesome. © content.

The heavy vault door began to roll to the side and Leonel hesitated. Should he still enter?

His feet moved him. He was agile and quick, hiding behind Eduardo's shadow in a blink.

Elder Varough looked over and raised an eyebrow, but he didn't seem to see anything as the three of them slipped inside.

The vault doors slid shut with a boom and Elder Varough went back to his business.

...

Leonel felt that his gamble had paid off. The technique vault didn't separate them, they appeared in the same space. The difference was that all around them, there were techniques floating in odd balls of light.

Leonel had felt that since Eduardo insisted on following Simona in, it didn't make sense that they would be sent off to different places. If the latter was true, then he wouldn't be just protective, he'd be a bit insane. What would be the point in following her if he couldn't even see her?

Eduardo looked around again, feeling that something was off. It just felt like someone was constantly looking at him, and yet this time, when he turned around and stared right at where Leonel was standing, he couldn't see a single thing.

Was he losing his mind?

'This whole hiding in the Shadow World thing is really not what it's cracked up to be. I've been sensed so many times already and now their senses are on alert. But... that's fine.'

BANG!

Leonel's fist slammed into the back of Simona's head with lightning quick precision. Her eyes rolled back before she could even understand what was happening, and the instant she lost consciousness, he pulled her into the Segmented Cube.

He would have attacked Eduardo first, but he could feel that this young man was exceptionally powerful. Taking control of Simona, who he was clearly tasked to protect, would throw his mind into disarray and help him deal with him quicker.

"WHO?!" Eduardo's voice boomed and his eyes widened as he watched Simona disappear from right next to him.

None of this was part of Leonel's original plan, but he was more than willing to go with the flow.

Since the Godlens had changed their plans for him based on Simone's words, then he was even more certain that her father was likely to be Vivak himself. How could he pass up on such a useful hostage?

Leonel appeared, and Eduardo's eyes opened wide. How else was he supposed to react when a dead man suddenly appeared before him as though everything was fine?