[BONUS] DOMINANT

[Bonus chapter courtesy of Mr. Ham <3 2/6]

From focusing on the speed of victory, Leonel shifted the task of his Dreamscape to dominant victory. He would take no hostages in this game, and he no longer gave a damn about how deeply offended the enemies of the Human Race would become.

Since he had come here, he was already a thorny rose in their otherwise well-trimmed gardens. Since that was the case, he might as well poison the bouquet at the same time.

The True Dream Plane had nine total states that it could be in. With each state you went up, the dangers would be greater, but the rewards would likewise be all the more appetizing as well.

The point of the Challenge was never to kill, much like Leonel had said previously. It was created as a friendly ground to exchange pointers. As for why Contribution Points were necessary to open it, it was because of how expensive the True Dream Plane was to open and run. Everything here needed a great deal of energy and it couldn't be opened just because one felt like it.

This was all to say that the main point of the True Dream Plane was improvement, not battle, not revenge, and certainly not killing.

The reason Leonel was focused on the speed of victory before was one, for Clarence's sake, and two because if he allowed this to drag out for too long, the advantages he had in the beginning could be quickly whittled away.

Although he had made a nice little Tiered system for himself, and it seemed that if he worked hard enough, he'd be able to touch Tier Nine eventually, the harsh truth was that the only reason he was on a level playing field with these behemoths was because of his Sovereignty.

Plus, he also hadn't forgotten that these powers had definitely come with trump cards of their own. He wasn't the only one who might have an advantage of some sort.

Right now, they were probably all focused on finding him as quickly as possible. Leonel wouldn't even be surprised if Clarence's death location had some sort of device that could be used to trap him or track him should he have gotten close. © content.

As for why the person who killed him didn't stick around, they probably thought that bait was the best use Clarence had but didn't like the odds of Leonel suddenly stumbling into his death, so had chosen to try to cover all their bases. It was hard to tell where that person might have gone. They might even still be in this mountain range right this moment.

This aside, the main point was that Leonel knew that there were other ways to take advantage of this world.

It wasn't a coincidence that the main goal was to reach the tallest mountain peak. That was to say that that mountain wasn't the only one with a great benefit hidden within it.

The problem was that according to Leonel's calculations, the top of the mountain was protected by at least a Tier Six threat. The taller mountains would have Tier Seven, Eight, and potentially Nine threats.

If he wanted what was hidden up there, he needed to dig deeper. Or, find another way.

Leonel decided to experiment a bit.

He could only control a Tier Zero threat like the little fox for around five minutes at the start, back when he was Tier One, that is. Now that he had the equivalent of Tier Four strength, it had doubled for every step.

Unfortunately, the treasures couldn't help to bolster the time. That was because the treasures only had a direct impact on this ethereal body of his, while absorbing the Dream Force of the dead creatures could help solidify the connection with his real body, thus meaning less Dream Force was lost during the crossing over, and thus making it easier on him by several measures.

Simply put, right now, he could control that little fox for 20 minutes with ease, 40 minutes if he really hit Tier Four.

For every step up a threat took, that fell by half. This was the result of Leonel's experiments.

'That means that I can control a Tier Six for 18 seconds, give or take? Almost 40 if I really hit Tier Four... That's enough.'

Using the Snowy Star Owl, Leonel quickly upped his kill count until he was truly at Tier Four. This wasted an extra two hours, but this was work he would have done anyway. He also managed to find some treasures to put him at 100% amplification.

Then, he abandoned the Snowy Star Owl and shot up the mountain. He moved low to the ground, not even running on his feet, but instead flying low. He controlled the Dream Force around him, his goal being the top of the mountain.

What he didn't expect was that after all this preparation, he'd find the Tier Six beast that he was preparing to deal with in a heated battle with something else.

Leonel's gaze flashed with a gold-like.

It was a Starry Tailed Fox, one that stood proudly at almost five meters tall and had three tails that rose into the skies and seemed to stir the clouds.

The opponent opposite it was a Nomad, and he was surprisingly able to fight it although he was clearly at a disadvantage.

'They're at this strength already? That's impossible.'

No one should be able to match Leonel's skill, not with all the simulations he had run. That meant there was a variable that was out of his control.

He used his eyes to scan for anything he was missing until he noticed an oddity in the man's forehead.

All Nomads had Ethereal Glabellas so large that they peeked out from their foreheads. It gave them an almost otherworldly appearance, if their two pairs of floating hands didn't already do that.

Inside, Leonel could faintly see the scene of shimmering runes that caged what looked like a White Stone Elephant.

His eyes narrowed.