UNWARRANTED CONFIDENCE

It was a man-a Demon, rather. But he looked quite human aside from the purple scale on his forehead and the horns on his head. Even with this, though, he looked absolutely immaculate, reminding Leonel a lot of Elthor in that way. Neither were human, but both seemed to meet the aesthetic in ways human men could not. Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

Leonel looked down at the slender fingers grabbing his arm. The grip was light if it could be called a grip at all. It was more like a pat.

"Do you need something?" Leonel asked.

The Demon smiled, "my name is Thorne."

"You didn't answer my question," Leonel replied.

Thorne chuckled. "I think this has gone on for long enough, don't you think? You've already vented your anger."

"Have I?" Leonel asked, a smile spreading across his face.

"You know, in the world I come from, they always said Demons were vicious creatures without morality. I didn't think I'd meet such a soft one."

Thorne laughed even louder. "Don't all Races have their lessers? I've always heard that Humans are weak and fragile, are you the same?"

The question was rhetorical.

"A temporary ailment," Leonel replied without missing a beat.

Thorne's eyes narrowed. "The implications of those words are quite dangerous, you know."

"Are they? I was just trying to exist, and yet trash keeps trying to get in my way. What's the difference between whether I speak or not? Are you going to reach out and pat the arms of some fragile Demi-Gods too?"

A hushed silence spread, even Thorne didn't dare to speak, at least not immediately.

Leonel's lip curled.

"You're playing a dangerous game," Thorne finally said.

"Yeah, I am. So how about you get your hand the fuck off of me before I skewer you like him? I've killed three Owlans, maybe not officially, but I've definitely done so. Do you think this kiddy pool is deep enough for me?"

Wisps of smoke suddenly began to come out from the soles of Leonel's feet and the edges of his eyes.

The pain of heat and Destruction caused Thorne to pull his hand back reflexively, feeling that he might lose his hand if he didn't.

A shriek suddenly came from Rhangyl as he was burned from the inside out. He was still struggling to hold onto the spear, but the flame was so strong that his metallic skin seemed to melt beneath their might.

Rhangyl turned red and his body began to break down beneath all their eyes. And yet, Leonel just stood there, gazing forward, his pale violet irises flickering with the reflection of the dancing flames.

No one could get close to Leonel, the ring of flames around him was so caustic and hot that it felt like he was emitting heat from the very surface of a star. Even the clothing of people far off into the distance seemed to spontaneously combust, the Fire Force in the air multiplying to the point there didn't seem to be room for any other Forces at all.

The casual indifference on Leonel's face as the flames danced across it seemed to be marked into their very souls, a moment that they would be unlikely to ever forget.

BANG.

Rhangyl fell to the floor, the heat of the blade having been so great that he was sliced in two, the blade falling out after it ran through his head.

He was a mess of flesh, blood, and melted metal, writhing on the ground as his screams of agony echoed. By this point, his self-forged body was nothing more than a weakness to be exploited. Maybe if he had a weaker body, he would have already died by now.

Leonel looked down, his spear flickering and cutting out an Innate Node. He tossed it in his palms as though it was as hot as the core of a planet. His skin still seemed just as smooth and just as unbothered.

Then he cut out another, then another. By the time he was finished, Rhangyl wasn't even recognizable. He was more a pile of goop and metal than a humanoid of any kind.

His soul seemed trapped within his body. Without a real death, he couldn't separate easily, especially not while his pain receptors were firing so wildly.

"I hope it was worth it," Thorne said lightly. "The world isn't a place you can be as willful as you please. You've cost your entire Race."

Leonel looked over. "You're an annoyance. Piss off."

His spear slashed down and Rhangyl's voice suddenly came to a frightening stop as his body, or what was left of it, fell into two pieces.

Leonel turned and walked back without a word, passing through the square and appearing before his wife and the others. He gave Silvanus a glance, but the man seemed to have lost all blood, his face a ghostly sheen of white.

Leonel didn't give the man another glance before he gave Aina a kiss on the forehead and handed the Council Key to her.

"I'm gonna go take a nap," Leonel yawned then vanished into the Segmented Cube.

Aina shook her head, catching the finger sleeve before it fell to the ground and slipping it on one of hers.

At that moment, the Council Key trembled and they finally enforced the rules.

[Participant Leonel Morales has been banished due to violation of the rules]

The words appeared high in the skies and everyone looked toward Aina to see if there would be some sort of reaction. But she didn't seem to care in the slightest.

This made their eyes narrow. Just what was going on here and where was their confidence coming from?

Also, had Leonel been vanquished? But why were the words still high in the skies then? The only explanation was that he had yet to be caught...

But how was that possible?