TRAP
The roars of the beasts were relentless, and the echo of Leonel's heartbeat even more so.
It wasn't enough, it wasn't enough.
He wanted her dead, truly dead. But he could still feel that arrogant pair of eyes, that annoying smile, that chuckle that seemed to say that she had everything under control. © 2024.
It was so infuriating, it was so...
Leonel's mind swam and his heart seemed to have run to the end of its rope. He trembled once and then fell backward, his gaze dimming.
He had run into his limits and then pushed past them again and again, all before he had even managed to fully recover from the first time.
He simply didn't have the energy to do anything else.
He collapsed with a thud and the pair of eyes in his Destruction World slowly vanished.
The fissures across Leonel's body began to fade... but only in part. If before they looked like glowing lines of jagged red, they were instead more like true wounds, bubbling as though they were infected, when in reality it was because his blood was still truly running so hot. Even his blood itself was evaporating into the air.
His consciousness faded and he ran to the truest ends of his limit.
The last thought he had was that not only was this not nearly as satisfying as he wanted it to be...
Something was telling him that he had played right into her hands.
What he didn't know was that years ago, the Demoness had visited a certain Emperor of the Variant Invalids to stop him from killing Flaura... just so that she could have this very moment.
As for what her purpose was, only she knew. Even Leonel was completely in the dark, brewing in his frustration and fury without anywhere to vent it.
The death of Flaura meant absolutely nothing to him.
He just wanted her death... just her...
**
Zephyrion's gaze flashed like lightning.
Two months ago, he had sensed someone come to this Incomplete World. He had originally thought that he had seen wrongly. But he still felt that the odds of him making such a mistake were far too low. With his skill, how could he possibly be easily mistaken by something?
Unfortunately, the person never actually stepped foot into the world, so it was impossible to find their trail because Zephyrion himself didn't dare to step out of the world until the time was right and proper. He couldn't reveal his tail too soon and had to bide his time.
However, he had already thought of the potential worst-case scenario and had been prepared for it. So when the time actually came, he could only sigh.
...
Outside the Variant Invalid Bubble, there was a peculiar duo. At least, they were peculiar in terms of what someone like Leonel was used to seeing. But if they were to appear on the God Plane, the shock that they would bring wasn't small in the slightest.
The pair was humanoid, but that was about the only thing human-like about them.
Their bodies were formed of thick, green vines that formed tight knots and bundles that looked almost like muscle fibers running through their bodies. They were especially tall and lanky, the shorter one between the two still standing at over four meters tall, while the other was almost five meters tall.
Their clothing seemed to be bark dotted around their private regions, and faces looked like they had been carved out of ancient brown wood.
What was most spectacular about them had to be their eyes. They were delicate orbs of a dark shade of gold. Though it wasn't quite dark gold, it wasn't quite gold either. They were like polished brass balls, but not refined down to a high grit, leaving some murkiness behind.
However, it was precisely because of this that they held some vicissitudes of ancientness and untold wisdom.
These two were a part of a Race of powerful Gods...
The Sylvan Race.
They were known for their vitality and their wisdom. Even in comparison to the Void Race that seemed to be able to endlessly regenerate, they were on another level.
And in terms of all the creatures in existence...
They were known to be the most intelligent.
When they saw the Incomplete World before them, they realized that it was shocking immediately.
"You've seen the problem, Bracken?"
The female Sylvan spoke lightly.
"This Incomplete World should be worth thousands of times what we paid."
If the world heard these words, they would be shocked beyond compare. It had to be known that Leonel had already made an outrageous amount of money just for selling the information, enough that he was even able to lay a formation that changed the landscape of the entire Human Bubble.
And yet, according to Bracken, it was still not even a single percent of what he should have received.
The female, Willowyn, nodded in agreement without any pushback.
"There should be great danger inside, causing the price to be lowered. The Dream Pavilions automate everything, it should be able to calculate this as well."
"How could the person who found this Incomplete World possibly sell such information so casually?"
"There are only really two explanations."
"Both of which have the same ending."
"It's a trap."
"Either it's a trap for us."
"Or it's a trap for whoever's on the inside."
The two spoke seamlessly and without a care. They flowed from one deduction to the next without the slightest hiccup as though they were looking back in time rather than trying to deduce something that they hadn't been a first-party witness to.
"What would you like to do about it?" Willowyn asked.
"My assumption is that whoever is inside is likely responsible for the evolution of this Incomplete World. In which case, there's a very short list of who could possibly do this."
"Mm. Either the Fallen God Beast and Owlan Alliance."
"One of the God Races."
"Or the Variant Invalids."