A NEW PUPPET MASTER (1)

Leonel exhaled a breath after he and Aina managed to escape. The Celestial Terras were truly a monstrous race, but that was precisely why he had to take the risk. Only if they participated in the chaos could enough happen that he could take advantage of the situation and escape this problem they were all facing.

He just needed time to grow, he needed time to be stalled enough that he could finally reach his full potential. When that time came, would it still be necessary to deal with all of this nonsense?

He could fill his wife's belly with kids, chat and laugh with his brothers all day, and recline in his chair. As for the end of existence? Who cared. Was anyone meant to live forever anyway? These Gods who were all obsessed with extending their lives were pathetic. Those that were more obsessed with benefiting from the world now and leaving the trouble to their descendants were even more pathetic.

Although Leonel said this, it was just a casual thought. He hadn't truly ever been worried about the Northern Star and the end of existence in the first place. But maybe that was because it was hard to care about that when there were a million things trying to take your life every day.

In addition, he was young. Even though he said he was fine with death, he probably still felt like he could live forever. When he was aging, would he still feel the same? It was hard to say.

But in a rare instance, Leonel didn't really care about his thoughts, and he didn't tie them down with logic either. It was as though he was finally free. He didn't have to take out a balance to consider every little thing.

"Where to now?"

Aina's battle intent was still flaring up, but Leonel only laughed.

"My little succubus warrior, there are no enemies around. Put the weapon down."

Aina glared at Leonel, but she still blushed a bit. Maybe she was truly too eager. It was just that while Leonel was out having all the fun, she was stuck meditating for days on end. It was infuriating and frustrating, but she also knew that between the two of them, she had the fastest path to improvement because her path was less complex and she also wasn't fighting it out with her inner demons.

As much as Leonel wanted to protect her, didn't she want to protect him?

Leonel chuckled.

"We need to wait it out a bit. We have to give the seeds time to grow, or else it would all be meaningless."

"Then what do you want to do?" Aina asked, confused.

"My senses are sharper now. I think I can find my third Incomplete World. There should be a nice little boost from this."

Aina's head tilted to the side. Something made her feel like Leonel wasn't saying everything he was thinking, but at the same time, he felt a bit different. This time, it didn't feel like he was hiding things for the sake of getting a leg up on someone, but instead because he didn't feel like talking about such insignificant things now that they finally had some time alone.

"Okay," she said with a smile.

...

The battlefield was truly chaotic. In fact, it could be said that it was far worse than Leonel had described.

At that moment, Elysium stood tall, standing off against a giant that had a head so large and tall that it was shrouded by clouds. Chains rattled around this giant, and it was clear that it couldn't bring out its full strength under the restrictions of the Demi-God Realm. And yet, it didn't seem to matter at all because its aura was too oppressively powerful.

"The Minerva descendants don't seem to have learned from history..."

This giant spoke softly, but the world rumbled. The sun in the sky pulsed as though it might shatter any moment now, and if not for Elysium's presence, the army of Owlans would have already ruptured into a rain of blood.

"... To dare kill the descendants of my Void Race... Bold indeed..."

Elysium's gaze grew sharp.

The moment this giant Void Race member appeared, he knew that things had gone wrong. Not just wrong, but once again, Leonel had pushed them to the center of the storm.

He wasn't even sure how he would explain this matter at all.

On the one hand, he was far too prideful to try and quickly explain now that Leonel must have been the one responsible. That wasn't just because of his pride either, but rather because he was smart enough to know what would happen now.

Now that the Void Race had gone so far, they wouldn't just leave now. They would use this moment to wipe out the Owlans as well. After all, they didn't want another power to rise into the God Realm either.

So what would happen if he quickly explained that it was Leonel now? Not only would he harm the momentum of the Owlans, but it wouldn't save them from this situation either. © 2024.

In that case, there was only one choice that a smart and astute leader would make.

Not only could he not explain, but he had to take credit for it as well. That way, he would show the Owlans to his back that they had nothing to fear even in the face of such monsters.

They had already taken a step beyond the point of no return. There was only one way forward now.

Either their Owlans would rise up and succeed in ways they never had before...

Or they would have their legacy truly wiped out here and now.

Elysium raised a hand, and the sound of a sword howl pierced the skies. A golden blade landed in his hand and his wings flapped once, sending a spatial storm out in all directions.

"The Minerva do not need to consult the Void Race when they kill."

BOOM!