SO CLOSE

Elder Varough moved like the wind. His task force looked toward one another and gathered at once, following after his swift steps. Although they lost him almost immediately, they followed after his aura, moving at their fastest speeds as well.

"Shit..." Leonel mumbled beneath his breath. He didn't manage to make it far, but he was forced to slip back into the furnace room, dodging behind the large pieces of machinery.

With the most speed he himself could muster, he appeared beside a familiar furnace, the very same one he had made changes to previously. The blood that covered him and the irregular shape of his chest made it clear he was nearing the end of his rope, but his gaze was still sharp.

BANG! The door to the furnace room was ripped open so forcefully it flew off its hinges. Varough rushed in like a wild beast. When he saw Leonel, he couldn't believe it. Had he really been tricked by a mere Fifth Dimensional existence? How could he not see red?

However, seeing that Leonel was cornered, he took a breath to calm himself. He knew that he couldn't kill Leonel now; at the very least, he needed to bring him back to be studied.

"Stay back."

The sudden command from Leonel left Varough without words. Was this brat stupid? Why did he have to do as he said?

Varough shook his head, feeling that this previous rage was really too silly. How could he allow a brat like this to threaten his baseline? © content.

He thought that Leonel was clever to be able to make it so far, but maybe he had overestimated him.

He continued to move forward anyway, not giving a damn about Leonel's words... until he heard what came next.

"Alright, keep moving. I'll be sure to blow this entire place sky-high."

Varough's steps paused. He looked around, seeing the collection of various furnaces, AC systems, and boilers; he was confused. Was something like that possible? He wasn't sure; he wasn't a Crafter. But just theoretically speaking, with all the heat and various systems in this place automated, there was a great deal of energy stored here. If it was disrupted, then...

Varough sneered. "Am I supposed to believe that you can do something to change the equilibrium here? Do you have any idea who designed these-"

"Then call her here and ask her; it's not like I'm going anywhere, right?" Leonel sneered, standing tall and straight despite his injuries. "At the same time, you can ask her who it was pulled her away from her lab and brought her here to fix an issue."

At that moment, the rest of Varough's team caught up. But he raised a hand and stopped them from approaching.

"Go fetch Liana," he said coldly.

The task force looked toward one another, and one of them was eventually tasked with the duty.

The seconds ticked by, and Liana was eventually brought in. When she saw Leonel, her eyes opened wide.

"Impossible..." she mumbled.

Leonel sneered. "It's very possible."

Liana snapped out of her thoughts and frowned. "I just fixed that furnace; it's impossible for you to have had time to do anything. Varough, capture him."

Varough had heard enough and was ready to move, but Leonel laughed.

"Did you? Did you fix it?"

Liana frowned.

"What? You think that I just reversed the flow of the fans?"

Liana stopped Leonel, her delicate brows furrowing. She looked at Leonel, hard, trying to see through him until her expression twisted with horror.

"It seems you finally noticed. I didn't reverse the flow; I mirrored it. A technicality, but a huge difference. Especially if someone came by and tried to fix it based on the mirrored image."

"You..."

Leonel smiled. "Yes, me. If you didn't notice until now, that means..."

"The new Force Art is two transformations away from what it's meant to be, if it becomes a third..."

Liana's heart trembled.

Transformations could be considered to be an exceptionally high-level concept, one that only those with an intimate understanding of the Life Grade could grasp.

All Force Arts were formed of shapes, not just in the 2D, but the 3D as well, and sometimes a fourth if you were sharp enough to comprehend it.

At the level of Liana and Leonel, to keep a complex matter simple, you couldn't just draw a triangle shape randomly when a Force Art called for it. You had to be careful about which form of the triangle shape you were using, especially if it was an irregular triangle.

The further away from its proper form the triangle came, the further from the perfection of the Life Grade you got, and the more stable the overall formation would become.

Leonel had mirrored one of the runes of the Force Art, causing the system to act as though it had been reversed. But rather than mirroring it again to take it back to its original position, Liana had reversed it, causing a core part of the formation to be two transformations away from its most ideal state.

The formation was already highly unstable. Leonel didn't have the strength to force a third transformation. In fact, he hadn't had the strength to force the second one either; he had to rely on tricking Liana for that.

However, in this unstable state, if he gave the formation a little nudge, it really would all explode.

Varough sneered. "So what? This level of explosion couldn't even guarantee the death of an Eight Star existence, let alone the true powerhouses of the family. Do you think this is enough to threaten us?"

"And what if I have your Patriarch's lovely daughter in my hands?"

Liana's eyes widened, and Varough's brows twitched.

"Also, you can fool me," Leonel sneered. "Whatever this whole operation is, it's clear that it's highly important to your people. If I blow it up, all your hard work will go up in a puff of smoke."

Liana paled considerably. Not only her niece but her research? This was too much.

"What are your demands?" Varough finally said. "You can't plan to stand here forever, right?"

"It's simple. Build me a formation out of Godlen family territory. I'm sure Miss Liana can tell you that my Crafting skill is high enough that it's impossible to fool my eyes, so be diligent about it. Once you do so, I will leave this ring holding your little heiress here."

"The Codex. Where is it?"

Leonel sneered. "One step at a time, old man. If you want that, you'll need to pay up some more."

Varough gripped his fists, hard. Was his Godlen family really about to be toyed around with by this boy?

At that moment, five powerful auras descended, and Varough's expression changed. In an instant, five more powerhouses stood at the edge of the furnace room. If not for the fact Leonel's eyes sharpened when they appeared, they might have directly attacked to subdue him. Somehow, this boy could react even to their speed.

"Boy!" Vivak's rage was towering. His eyes had actually been fooled by this brat?!

"Pipe down," Leonel said coldly. "My eardrums aren't as reinforced as yours. If I'm suddenly deaf and can't hear what's going on around me anymore, my hand just might slip."

Vivak's eyes bulged.

Anselma frowned. "This isn't a real person; this is a Blood Clone."

Leonel froze.

'Son of a bitch. So fucking close.'

Vivak's heart skipped a beat, and he seemed to put something together.

"ACTIVATE THE FORMATION!"