OPPORTUNITY
"Just doing me part," Leonel said lightly.
Yonku laughed. "Don't get too down, kid. Who doesn't have father-in-law trouble? It's a natural path of all men. Miel is a good man, just protective of his daughter. Soon enough I'm sure you two will be perfectly chummy."
Leonel smiled. "You call him Miel. Did he change his name?"
"Ah, you didn't know this. See?" Yonku looked back toward Cidra who was wearing a stone-face of her own. "Don't mind her either, everyone knows she's in love with Miel though she thinks that she hides it well."
"Watch your word, Yonku."
A flickering Light Force appeared in Cidra's eyes. Leonel took note of it but didn't think very much of it. Light Force was rare, but not rare to the point no one would have it.
"HAHA!" Yonku laughed uproariously, his belly rolling. "Sorry, sorry, pretend like I didn't say anything."
Cidra, though, had already ignored Yonku and was looking right at Leonel.
"I do not."
Leonel blinked, looking at this serious woman with shortcut hair. He hadn't really taken it seriously before, but since she was being so serious about it, it was obvious that Yonku wasn't blowing hot air.
As for why Cidra wanted to make sure that Leonel didn't believe the nonsense, it was obviously so that he didn't turn around and tell Aina about it. That would be her worst nightmare.
She couldn't even get Miel to pay attention to her; how would she fare if she suddenly had to deal with the scrutiny of a potential step-daughter at the same time?
Leonel smiled. "I believe you."
Cidra's brows creased when she heard this, but she realized she couldn't push any harder, or else it might be too obvious.
The rest of the Slayer Generals chuckled, earning Cidra's glares.
The remainder of the Slayer Generals were pretty well balanced. They were all in the Eighth Dimension and they came from the various powers as defectors as well. The only power that was lacking a defector was the Dream Pavilion, but Leonel could easily make a guess as to why that was.
There was Slayer General Tidus, defector of the Godlens, Slayer General Cherie, defector of the Four Great families, and finally Slayer General Darlamane, defector of the Cult. Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
Cherie was an older woman with sharp green eyes and hair. She should be a member of the Crudus family, one of the Four Great Families.
Darlamane was actually a man despite his name. Though, he didn't look particularly delicate, not just due to his old age, but because he seemed to take meticulous care of his skin and hygiene. His face was practically radiant.
In truth, all of the Slayer Generals aside from Miel and Cidra seemed to be entering their twilight years. It was a bad sign overall for the direction of the Slayer Legion.
However, they weren't entirely hopeless. At the very least, they had a decent number of warriors well into the Seventh Dimension.
Each one of them led an army of 10,000. That wasn't great, but it wasn't as bad as Leonel was expecting. It was at least a foundation that could be built upon. They just lacked the resources.
The number of citizens who couldn't protect themselves only numbered just over 100,000 or so. So the ratio of people to soldiers almost bordered on outrageous, but it was a necessary evil.
Usually, a decent ratio would be less than 1%, that meaning one soldier for every hundred citizens. But here it was almost 40%, which was both shocking and a bit sad.
It ultimately meant that most who could fight were doing so. This city wasn't a place of leisure for the people. They were birthed into this struggle.
If there were any humans that Leonel felt deserved his protection, it was this kind.
He felt no loyalty to the human alliance. They didn't treat his life or that of his friends and family as equal to their own.
He didn't know if he felt loyalty to the Slayer Legion either. Honestly speaking, his grandfather's ways could be just as cruel as the human alliance's ways. He didn't seem to be on the side of "good" either, and his main purpose seemed to be to resurrect the Fawkes family to their former glory.
Leonel didn't even know if he was on the side of good either. At the very least, because of his own ego, he would have left these people behind.
He couldn't help but smile. 'So we're all scumbags just trying to survive, huh? How depressing.'
The last of the citizens were escorted into the Segmented Cube under Leonel's watchful gaze and the banter of the Slayer Generals.
With a wave of his hand, the Segmented Cube's portal closed and it slid onto Leonel's finger. He didn't mind the slightly uncomfortable gazes of the Slayer Generals when they saw this, it was inevitable given the circumstances. It didn't suddenly mean that they would definitely cause issues for him. At least not yet.
"Now, we should decide what we're going to do from here on out. I wouldn't mind allowing you Slayer Generals into the Segmented Cube as well, but I'm sure that's not what you want, right?"
The Slayer Generals looked toward one another. It was clear that Leonel hit the nail on the head, but what was the other option? To flee like rats? But then what?
Was this the end of the Slayer Legion, just like that? They were obviously unwilling.
The first time they faced a true attack and they folded so easily? It was both embarrassing and unacceptable.
"You have an idea?" Tidus asked Leonel.
In truth, he had been eyeing Leonel for a long time. Since there was an opportunity to interact, he might as well. He was very interested in this boy.
"Well, your enemies have no idea that you have a method to suddenly take everyone away and vanish in a blink. They think you're basically trapped and they can deal with you at their own pace.
"Isn't that a good opportunity to deal another blow to them?"