EVERY. FUCKING. TIME.

What was the smart thing to do?

That was obvious.

Turn around. Pretend he hadn't heard anything.

Assume that the Lords up there meant something other than calling his wife a barbarian.

All were good options.

But he had been doing the smart thing for too long already.

It was smart to send his wife to ask another man on a date. It was smart to make her fight alone at the Gathering of Kingdoms. It was smart to feign ignorance and incompetence at the Gathering of Minds.

All of these things were smart, they had progressed his journey further, they had minimized casualties and the only people to suffer were either those he didn't give a damn about or his enemies.

All smart. All very, very smart.

Leonel felt a hand grab onto his. He looked down to find Aina looking at him, smiling reassuringly. She wasn't bothered by the comment at all, she didn't really care.

What she had cared about was when people said she wasn't worthy of being Leonel's wife, but they certainly weren't saying that now. As for everything else, it was just fluff and unimportant.

As for the Gathering of Minds matter, she didn't really care about that either. The only reason she had wanted to participate was purely to get back at Minerva for what she was doing to her husband. As for the spotlight itself, she didn't care for it and never would.

Her only goal in life used to be to destroy the Brazinger family. Now she had two. One remained the same, and the second was to live a happy life with Leonel.

The Moonstone Lord stepped into the air and seemed to drift off before the eyes of everyone, not looking back.

The Emberheart Lord sighed. "My apologies, everyone. I started this matter with good intentions, but it seems that I've miscalculated something. The harmony between the Races is something I've always seen as worthy of protecting, and I will continue to do so."

It was at that moment that Thalion stood from his seat, seemingly prepared to go after his father. But after a moment, he hesitated and then spoke.

"I understand your intention, Lord Emberheart, but there are some things that cannot be changed. I was there that day. I watched this Aina Morales slaughter thousands in droves, endlessly for months on end. Many people saw her entering the arena more and more tired every time, but no one knows that it was due to the atrocities that she, herself, committed.

"It is unlikely to be the fault of the Humans, but there are certain... ties of the past that cannot be overlooked."

With a pointed glance, Thalion seemed to be about to leave as well.

There was a dense silence hanging in the air, one that looked as though it might remain for a long while as the Emberheart Lord seemed to have lost his words for a moment, unable to rebut the statement.

It was obvious to everyone what Thalion was referring to even without him spelling it out. The scars that the Void Beasts, the God Beasts of Destruction had left, were deep and firmly entrenched. It was simply impossible to escape them.

Thalion stepped into the air as well, rising up and seemingly about to catch up with his father. Even after several seconds, the Moonstone Lord was still in the sights of everyone present. He didn't seem to be in a rush, leisurely leaving through the air as though he was personifying a sigh.

And that was when it happened. This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

Something within Leonel snapped and he grabbed at the air. A roaring tempest of Scarlet Star Force and Emulation Spatial Force pulsed to life, exuding the majesty of the Life State with more fervor than he had ever been able to replicate until now.

A bow formed in his head and his body shimmering with light, the entire section of seats almost collapsing beneath his sudden show of might.

The Lords' expressions changed, but it was already too late.

The arrow was so fast, and it arched through the air with such beauty, that its lethality didn't truly set in until it landed.

BANG!

Thalion's head exploded into a rain of blood and gore.

Leonel's hair danced beneath the billowing might of his Force, his fury practically taking on tangible form. His Dream Force was so powerful that those in his immediate surroundings felt their eyes going red as well, almost as though Leonel's fury was their own.

"Every. Fucking. Time."

Leonel's voice echoed through the arena, a smoldering maleficence within them. The smoke coming from his feet and corner of his eyes sparked and danced with hidden flames, the layers of space around him sparking as well as though they might collapse at any moment.

Lyra's eyes opened wide. She didn't recognize this man, even his voice had changed, but for some reason, she was almost 100% certain of it. She felt that she was looking right at the man that could only be Leonel Morales.

Leonel took a step and landed on the arena. It was a distance of kilometers, and yet he made it look as though it was entirely a breeze.

The shock of everyone in the surroundings was so palpable that not even the Lords knew how to react, let alone the people in the vicinity. They just watched as he razed a clawed hand and suddenly swiped it down, tearing into the hard stone.

Leonel's back and arm flexed as he pulled up violently.

"Stop him!" The Emberheart Lord seemed to finally come back to reality, but it was already too late.

The arena grounds were sheared apart, revealing a pulsing Force Art beneath that reeked of blood.