REPLACE

Talon's head tilted to the side. He wasn't used to looking up at people, he was even less used to people dressing as casually as himself, and, even less than that, he was very much not used to people being able to maintain eye contact with him.

As a Demi-God, Talon obviously didn't participate in the Gathering of Kingdoms, and he had also paid little attention to it. But even if he had, it wasn't like anyone had seen Leonel fight. And even if he had seen Aina fight, and came to know that Aina was his wife, he still wouldn't have cared.

He couldn't really take anyone beneath Demi-God status seriously... but he sensed something odd from Leonel.

Talon sniffed. "... You're a Destruction Sovereign."

"Oh?" Leonel chuckled. "What's it to you?"

Talon's brows shot up. Did Leonel not know who he was? Even a Demi-God youth would do an about face if they saw him walking down the same street. It was well known that the Barbarian Race was among the last you should dare to offend. © content.

"Interesting!" Talon really spoke this time. Rather than just mumbling out his thoughts, he boomed out with his real voice. The sound was like a roaring beast and the wind pressure alone sent Leonel's hair wildly fluttering.

Leonel showed a strand of surprise.

Talon's brows shot up. Did Leonel not know who he was? Even a Demi-God youth would do an about face if they saw him walking down the same street. It was well known that the Barbarian Race was among the last you should dare to offend.

"Interesting!" Talon really spoke this time. Rather than just mumbling out his thoughts, he boomed out with his real voice. The sound was like a roaring beast and the wind pressure alone sent Leonel's hair wildly fluttering.

Leonel showed a strand of surprise.

Talon laughed boisterously. "Finally realize how strong I am?"

Leonel blinked, confused for a moment before he suddenly understood and shook his head.

"No, I'm just surprised your breath doesn't smell like a pile of shit."

Those in the surroundings froze. What was this boy saying?

Talon was surprised again. He thought for a moment that Leonel was just trying to save some face, but when he looked into the latter's eyes, he could feel it...

It was a battle intent that made him quake.

The only reason Leonel hadn't attacked already was because of the rules of the city, but he was hoping for it, almost praying for Talon to attack first.

His will was so powerful that it practically took tangible form, echoing through the air with the same repeated words.

Do it.Do it.Do it.

Talon's finger twitched and he almost really attacked, but he restrained himself in time.

Who was this ant to goad him into attacking? Who was this ant to dictate his actions?

"You're lucky," Talon said in his booming voice. "I can't tell if you did this as a reverse psychological attack, or if you really wanted me to attack, but it doesn't really matter.

"I came here to be a great Crafter, and that's what I will be."

Leonel chuckled. "That's a shame."

Talon frowned. "What is a shame?"

Leonel took a step and walked by him. As he disappeared into the distance, his voice echoed.

"If you had chosen to use your fists, you might stand a chance. In a battle of Crafting? Even if a God descended they would lose."

***

"What an arrogant little..."

Aurora's voice trailed off. It was beneath her status to curse in such a way, but this Leonel Morales really had a way of pissing her off.

He hadn't even been here for long but he had already caused so much trouble.

First, he destroyed ten Fourth Order Spears. That was just a drop in the bucket for the Owlans, but having to do the paperwork to replace them had fallen on Lyric's shoulders. How could she feel happy about her husband having to do more work just because of a brat's whims?

Second, he ate a ridiculous amount. All of the accommodations were free, and watching Leonel eat piles of gourmet meals really felt like a knife in her gut.

That alone was fine, but when he ordered this ridiculous amount of food he actually had his wife improve them as though they weren't good enough alone.

Third there was the sudden breakthrough in the streets. As far as their reports knew, he was just randomly strolling and then had an epiphany. There was nothing more impossibly annoying than seeing an arrogant bastard succeed. It made her teeth itch.

And finally all of that was capped off with his interaction with Talon.

It felt like he was leaping off their backs to improve his prestige. In all this time, she hadn't even heard of a single person refer to him as "human". It was like they had all subconsciously erased that tidbit from their memories.

She felt like she was stifling a belly full of anger and she had nowhere to vent it.

She took a breath and exhaled. She was already an old lady but she had actually let a brat piss her off to this extent. If Leonel didn't disrespect her winged knights, she wouldn't even hate him so much. But the moment he appeared, it was like the first thing he had done was slap her across the face.

She was practically watching him like a hawk, waiting for him to slip up so that she could bring the hammer down. But the man was just too good at toeing the line.

Aurora slowly calmed down. The Sage Minerva had yet to do or say anything, so why should she? This wasn't the stage to deal with Leonel. Not yet.

Leonel seemed to waste his days away until the three month period was finally up. As the date approached, the cheeriness and awe of the environment seemed to float away, replaced by a sinking heaviness instead.

Although they weren't fighting for the survival of their worlds, this was a different battlefield entirely and there was a lot riding on this matter... whether that be tangibly, in terms of the rewards, or more intangibly...

Many had their own speculations as to why the Pluto Race had chosen to do this, and it felt like yet another clue that the descendants of the Minerva Race were coopted for this duty.

Not many talked about why the Minerva Race was destroyed, but everyone knew the open secret...

What did it mean for the Pluto Race to try and raise up the descendants of the Race that tried to replace the Infinity Beast?