TRUE SOVEREIGNTY

The more Leonel walked, despite his ginger steps, the more his pain faded and the colder his eyes became. The reveal of the location of the Variant Invalid's stronghold was still a huge deal. No matter how much the God Realm hated the Northern Star Lineage Factor, they had even greater hatred for the Variant Invalids. This was just a matter of nature.

No matter how against the Northern Star Lineage Factor they were, it wasn't comparable to the Variant Invalids who followed a completely different path. It wasn't until Leonel had truly grasped Destruction that he knew where this difference lay.

Although it sounded somewhat exaggerated, it could even be said that the threat of the Variant Invalids was comparable to the Northern Star.

As for why that was, it was a matter of their Path. It could be said that the Variant Invalids were more of a conduit for Destruction than even the Northern Star itself, or more accurately, they were the vessel through which the universe spread Destruction.

There had been something that Leonel had been neglecting all of this time.

Force Manipulation followed a set path. It unfolded the Forces to the state of Impetus, and then it compacted them, trying to help them to reach the First Dimension.

What was all of this a product of? Wasn't it all following a Path of Creation?

The Impetus State referred to the Impetus of Life.

The Life State was where the kernel for potential of Life lay.

The Creation State was where the kernel for potential of Life began, the location that gave Existence the tendency to move toward Life in the first place.

Each and every one of these steps was best described as a type of Creation, where Creation itself was the pinnacle.

Even when one formed a Dharma and even further, an Idol, this was just a process of taking the burden of Creation away from Existence and placing it within yourself, forming your Godhood. owns all content.

Every step along the way, this was a measure of Creation.

Then in that case... where did Destruction fit into all of this?

Suddenly, it clicked for Leonel.

Why was it that out of all of his Sovereignties, Destruction was the only one that wasn't attached to a Force of its own?

Shadow Sovereignty was always attached to Dark Force and its various kinds. Dream Sovereignty was attached to Dream Force, obviously. Blood Sovereignty was attached to Blood Force.

Destruction Sovereignty was the only one attached to... Scarlet Star Force? It didn't make any sense.

But then Leonel understood.

Destruction Sovereignty was a separate existence all in its own right. It didn't follow the usual steps of Force Manipulation to begin with, because all Forces tended toward Creation. Even Anarchic Force was only a method of breaking down Forces into their simplest parts, allowing them to be recycled and reused in other facets of life.

Destruction Sovereignty was nothing like this. Even Leonel's Scarlet Star Force wasn't an example of Destruction at all, but was rather instead an example of Creation brought to an absolute extreme.

When Leonel had these thoughts, he finally well and truly understood what his Destruction Sovereignty was.

It was a conduit...

It was a method of taking his Force Manipulation that followed a Path of Creation, and pulling it toward Destructive Force Manipulation.

It didn't matter what Force he used. It was just that Scarlet Star Force happened to be among the Forces where he could sense it far more clearly. But the reality was that there was nothing stopping him from using it with a Water Force, a healing Force of some sort; he could even turn the greatest Forces of vitality into ones that wanted for nothing more than death.

This was Destruction Force Manipulation, and it was the path that rended and sundered everything in the world, leaving not the slightest shred of anything behind.

But now, Leonel had also mastered Creation Sovereignty. So what did that really mean?

He had understood it in the context he created it in, but when he woke up to this reality, he also came to understand that things weren't exactly how they seemed.

However, the more Leonel walked, the more that confusion faded away, and the brighter his gaze became. His mind became sharper, and the light in his eyes only grew colder.

Aina walked by Leonel's side, not sure what he was doing. He had made it sound like they were in a great deal of trouble, so why was he just strolling around now as though nothing at all was happening?

However, soon, her eyes narrowed as she realized that they had appeared in the valley that housed a beast that made her heart shake.

She had seen it once before, a Void Beast corpse. It was a menacing creature that felt difficult to understand the shape and form of, but it was a shocking jolt to the senses nonetheless.

Leonel gave Kira a smile and then suddenly pressed his palm on the beast.

[Life Steal].

A drop of blood from the Void Beast was forcefully ripped out of its body and entered Leonel.

He grit his teeth, veins of black suddenly appearing all across him. However, he was frighteningly calm.

'How interesting... that even in the end, you weren't the true God Beast of Destruction at all, now were you?'

Leonel looked down at this beast that everyone feared, his mind in an unprecedented state of calm.

'No... more accurately, only some of you were...'

The Void Beasts could use Anarchic Force, but just like Leonel had said, Anarchic Force was just another form of Creation just like every other Force in existence.

Much like his Scarlet Star Force, it was just a convenient conduit for these creatures to use Destruction Sovereignty through.

However, being a True God of Destruction was far deeper than that, something far greater and far beyond measure.

Leonel's injuries began to quickly heal and his heart suddenly released a beat that shattered the scales of the Void Beast.