SURPASSED

Leonel entered his workshop, his mind racing. It was hard to tell exactly what he needed, but the possibilities felt endless. Unfortunately, sometimes, having too many paths to take was as good as having none.

What he needed were a few good paths so that he could focus all of his attention on them.

His gaze flickered as he took a breath.

Since things had already reached this point, he would go all out.

The Human Domain couldn't be considered to have returned to its height. The time that had passed had been too short, and the turmoil had yet to return to a state of rest.

However, Leonel had already said it once before.

He hadn't come here to play King. He had a very specific purpose, and the stability of the Human Race had nothing to do with him.

He had already saved them once. Without his existence, they would have already been wiped out by the Sea Gods.

As such, he didn't hesitate for even a moment as he mobilized them in full force and began marching toward the Ancient Battlefield.

The blood of the humans boiled. They had been suppressed for years. The idea that they could have their revenge like this, and so quickly, was something that moved them all.

Very few had the insight to see that this wasn't the smartest thing to do. And even if they did, they could only sigh and keep their thoughts to themselves.

The reality was that even these intelligent scholars had no way to explain how it was that Leonel had been able to accomplish what he already had. Who were they to say that he wouldn't be able to do this as well?

Who could have ever guessed that the Humans would ever come back like this?

As a result, even those that felt that this wasn't the right path simply didn't dare to say anything. At this point, who had the right to doubt Leonel?

At the same time the Human Race was mobilized, the war cries of the Rapax echoed throughout the skies. They roared, stomping their feet and slapping their tails.

Unlike the humans, they didn't need a reason. It had been too long since they had been to war. The excitement bubbled up from the depths of their souls and they formed a tide that rushed toward the Ancient Battlefield. Practically the entire Incomplete World could hear their call.

Amidst them, Dreadmaw stood, his gaze focused.

He could sense that Leonel wasn't 100% on their side, it was an intuition he had as a war. The Rapax were an incredibly pure race, so they were more sensitive to certain things than others would be. Their culture might seem barbaric to others, but this was simply their way of life.

Even so, he felt that he didn't have much of a choice in this matter... Leonel didn't leave them much of a choice.

The only path was forward.

The Oryx Emperor was a man older than even Emperor Fleeting Cloud. His skin was wrinkled and long, grizzled hair of white and grey fell down his back and overtook his fur.

He wore white robes that draped over his body, and his eyes looked so aged that they held a milky whiteness with just the faintest hints of blue. It was hard to distinguish between his irises and the whites of his eyes at all.

And yet, the valiant aura he exuded was suffocating.

At the moment, he sat in a garden, his third eye hidden beneath the folds of his wrinkles. He leaned forward in his chair, a cane of white oak that looked somewhat like a mage's staff keeping him upright.

When a sudden Force spread through his garden and a figure appeared, he didn't even react. But it was hard to tell if it was because his senses and reflexes had deteriorated so much, or if it was because he simply didn't care.

"There is a disturbance on the Ancient Battlefield. Mobilize the strongest armies of the Oryx. We are going to war."

The figure vanished, and the old Oryx Emperor still didn't respond. He continued to stare off blankly into the distance before he unleashed a sigh.

The sigh echoed across the whole of the Oryx Domain, and as though hearing a call, several female Oryx rushed in. Each one held a piece of armor. © 2024.

They appeared before the Oryx Emperor as he stood to his feet.

He didn't move again, but the maids stripped him of his clothing and clicked his armor into place, one after another.

After they were done, it all looked comical. The armor was far too big for the hunched old man and it even looked more like a cosplay gone wrong than anything else.

But it was at that moment that the old man swapped his cane for a great sword, one with a blade tall and thicker than his body.

The sigh echoing through the Oryx Domain suddenly became a roar and the old Oryx' body expanded. His horns grew polished and vibrant and his skin smoothed out. White fur erupted across his body and soon he stood at more than five meters tall.

He almost lazily slung the great sword over his shoulder and began to walk.

Reality shattered before him as though opening up a portal and he continued to move forward, crossing entire worlds as though he were taking a stroll.

As he moved, his aura continued to grow. Leaping before the Seventh Dimension and then entering the Eighth.

Even without trying, his strength permeated an entire Domain, his power shaking the bounds of the Incomplete World and almost shattering it entirely.

And yet, he seemed somehow capable of staying just beneath what the Regulator was willing to allow.

Leonel stood not far from the entrance to the Ancient Battlefield, looking up with a pensive expression.

To think that the Oryx would have someone who surpassed the bounds of Overlord.