SLANDER

Leonel's Divine Armor half formed, tendrils of silvery gold coming from the arm Tolliver coated and formed into a bow.

His Scarlet Star Force Innate Nodes spun to life and two Stars appeared behind him.

The moment they did, the world seemed to be forcefully commandeered by Leonel's might, and as he drew his bow back, this world seemed to take a breath along with him.

The arrow was wreathed in flames and silvery-gold space, however, even deeper than that, there seemed to be Dream Force. The world trembled and then solidified, forming a lane for his arrow as a final Force erupted. A streak of golden Bow Force.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Leonel unleashed a torrent of arrows. In that moment, an inverted umbrella of streaks of Force seemed to fill the skies, converging onto a single point.

The Moonstone Lord froze, not expecting this level of attack. He still couldn't see through Leonel's Dimension, but what he could feel were the rain of Life State Forces coming toward him. His mouth went dry.

How could a single person comprehend so many Forces of the Life State? How could they all be under such a level of control?

The Spiritual Lord barely had time to form a wheel of water. A bluish, marble stone took shape, a ring of water surrounding it. Every time it rotated and shifted into a new position, the world trembled and a waterfall of Water Force would descend, collapsing the space itself.

The arrows and the wheel clashed, a cascade of cacophonous booms filling the skies.

The Emberheart Lord's eyes opened wide, not just because of the level of strength, and not even just because he had never seen a human so powerful, but also because this was the absolute worst situation for such a battle to erupt in.

As expected, the screams began instantaneously.

Leonel's control was exceptional. Somehow, not even a single one of the reverberating plumes of Force was able to harm the arena or the humans that stood on it. However, the same could not be said for the Spirituals in the surroundings. They were quickly finding themselves enveloped by the aftershocks, and many had already died in just a few exchanges.

"STOP! STOP!" The Emberheart Lord roared.

Leonel sneered. A single one of his arrows veered toward the path of the Emberheart Lord and the latter's heart skipped a beat.

It was an attack he could easily deal with. The problem was what if Leonel started to assault him as well? Would he be able to protect his daughter from the aftershocks?

The Emberheart Lord quickly struck out with a palm, containing the arrow, but he didn't dare to speak again.

Secretly, he began sending out commands for a retreat, but he quickly realized that none of his orders were making it through as though someone was interfering with his Soul Force.

His expression changed and his gaze locked onto Leonel again. His face began to change through several shades.

On the one hand, he felt that what Leonel was doing was stupid. Even if he exposed them, so what? If on the tail end of that he ended up unleashing a torrent of attacks that killed many of their friends and family, what difference would it make?

People weren't rational creatures. Even if they felt that Leonel and the Humans had been wronged, if they were losing out due to their path of revenge, they would quickly become resentful.

But on the other hand, as the Lord, he couldn't possibly escape all blame for this. Much like Minerva, neither he nor Moonstone was anywhere near the strongest of the Spirituals. They had their elders and Ancestors to adhere to as well. With everything that had already happened, losing their Lordships was practically a certainty.

'No, this can't continue, not like this.'

"St-"

"What a mighty Moonstone Lord!" Leonel's voice boomed. "You can't even bother to protect your own people? But I would expect as much from someone willing to slander an entire Race of people for their own ends.

"Your selfishness knows no bounds. I guess if your son died for your misdeeds, everyone needs to die, huh?" © 2024.

Leonel's words was the most basic of bait. But how simple something was didn't decide how effective or not it was... especially when it was backed by endless tides of Faith.

The people were already feeling resentful, but the shock of the earlier reveal was still in their hearts, so no matter how selfish they were, they hadn't settled on blaming Leonel yet...

And now Leonel had given them an outlet to push all their discontent.

The Emberheart Lord's expression changed.

The people that were here were among the most influential of the whole the Ma'at Bubble and Kairo Bubble. If not, what would have been the point of this spectacle to begin with?

Leonel's words might as well have been like a stone thrown into a calm lake, sending waves of ripples out in every which direction.

Such words practically sealed his fate unless he did something to change it.

The Emberheart Lord realized then what kind of hole Leonel was pushing him into.

On one hand, he stuck by his brother's side and they lost everything as one.

But on the other hand, he dissented and tried to draw a line between them.

He looked up and saw the helplessness and fury in the Moonstone Lord's gaze. They looked toward one another and realized that they had somehow been pushed to this point by a single human.

They had no choice but to take a step back. They would make Leonel pay for this a hundredfold once he couldn't use a stadium full of people as hostages.

"Please stop! I will give you an explanation, I swear on my honor as the Emberheart Lord."

Leonel didn't even look at him, his arrows firing faster and faster.

What was the word of this piece of trash worth?

The Spiritual Lord grit his teeth and boomed out his next words.

"I am greatly disappointed by the actions of the Moonstone Lord. The Ma'at Bubble had no part in the slander of the Human Race!"