MENTAL STATE

Leonel put Aina down and hugged her tightly. At that moment, silently, a burden that he had been holding onto for a long while was put down. He didn't even sense that his wife was naked, and there wasn't the slightest bit of lewd thoughts in his mind anymore.

The last lingering influence of his future self vanished like wisps in the air, and all of the guilt that wasn't his own to bear disappeared along with it.

He would never again be faced with losing his wife in this life.

He held onto her tightly, listening to her breathing, feeling the beat of her heart, the warmth of her skin.

Aina could feel Leonel's emotion and her eyes couldn't help but tear up. She silently laid on his chest, her breathing even and at peace.

She could also sense that the last lingering darkness in Leonel's heart had vanished.

Leonel's mental state was contradictory a lot of the time, but this was just how the human mind worked. He loved his father, but he had never felt as much guilt toward his death as compared to Aina's. That was because his father was his idol, a man he felt was above all things. If his father died, it was because he wanted to.

That idolization was a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, it made Leonel take his death hard, so much so that he had practically become an entirely different person.

But on the other hand, it helped him avoid the fate of falling into an endless pit of despair, facing off guilt because he hadn't been able to help his father in those final moments.

Sure, there were some feelings of inadequacy, but they were ultimately drowned out by that feeling of despair and unwillingness.

Aina, however... she was his other half, his woman, his first and only love, his wife...

Her death was different to him. Protecting her was his responsibility and no one else's. Failing to do so had always hit him hard.

Leonel took a deep breath, breathing in his wife's scent and feeling his heart hit a rhythm of complete peace.

At that moment, his Spear and Bow Forces seemed to have been suppressed by something. His mental state evolved, and deep within him, a figure sitting within a clear lake trembled slightly.

A bow appeared on this figure's back and a spear across its lap. With his eyes still closed, the clear waters around him rippled as though waiting for something, but not being too eager to take action.

He, too, was at true peace.

This figure was the very same that had once been wreathed in chains and suffocated by seas of blood. But after Leonel had seen Mo''Lexi's painting, he had been able to walk out of it.

In truth, this figure was the manifestation of the Dream Asuras mysterious Lineage Factor.

The Dream Asuras had two Lineage Factors, one of which was publicly known, but a second was so rare that it only awoke once a generation. Only a single person from the main line would be able to allow this Lineage Factor to see the light of day.

However, this Lineage Factor was hidden so deeply within Leonel, by Leonel's own hand at that, that even the Life Tablet was unable to sense it.

Still, it was this very Lineage Factor that, even while immersed in shrouds of darkness, was able to silently resolve the largest issue that Leonel had faced until today.

From this day forth...

His Weapon Forces would never clash again.

Leonel kissed Aina, and his happiness almost fluttered out of his heart and into the world around him.

Aina didn't know if it was an illusion, but she could see dancing violet butterflies and fluttering violet fairies. They left delicate swirls of violet winds in their wake, making the atmosphere seem far more gorgeous now than it should have.

Maybe if she could focus on them, she would be able to tell with certainty. But the reality was that she cared too much for the man standing right before her to care to give them a glance.

Leonel didn't seem to care for them either. He looked down into his wife's eyes, their violet hue containing all the love in the world.

"Hey, beautiful, want to take over the world with me?"

Aina blinked. "Can you put a baby inside me instead?"

Leonel was stunned for a moment before he laughed uproariously. His laughter boomed across the Segmented Cube's world.Content © 2024.

"I'm going to just hide behind you from now on," Leonel said with a grin. "You'll be my vanguard; I'll be a nice and obedient house husband."

Aina smiled. "Yes. I'll fight, you take care of the babies."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Leonel took Aina's hand and they stepped out of the Segmented Cube. They found that Shan'Rae was still on the run. Leonel had only told her to run, so even though the danger was gone, she had just kept going and Leonel had just somewhat forgotten about her.

"My King!" Shan'Rae rushed into a bow.

Aina blinked, feeling a great pressure coming from Shan'Rae. It seemed that while she was away... Leonel had done quite a great deal.

"Let's go."

"Where are we going this time?" Aina asked.

"Well, it would be a shame if we left them hanging like this. They think that I'm dead, how could I let them worry like this?"

Aina blinked before she covered her mouth in a laugh.

With a wave of her hand, she was once more wearing a valiant military outfit. A shuddering red aura perpetually hung around her, shredding the air to pieces, and yet mending it in the same breath.

The shuttle surged forward and rushed again. Under Shan'Rae's control, they appeared in the Demi-God Realm once again, and they immediately felt the weight of the pressure around them.

The scent of blood was so thick that it reached even this location.

When Leonel saw it, he grinned. He knew that his plan had worked.

It was absolute chaos.