BATTLE AX

Leonel looked up into the skies, resting his spear on one shoulder while Little Blackstar sat on his other. Ships that looked eerily similar to the battleships of the Dimensional Zone appeared in a group of four. At their helms, existences that Leonel had simply never seen before appeared… He recognized not even one of them.

However, what he did recognize was their flowing hair.

Green hair and green eyes.

Golden hair and golden eyes.

Blue hair and blue eyes.

Red hair and red eyes.

There was only one group of families that they could have possibly been.

Still, Leonel didn't seem too surprised by their appearance, as though this was just to be expected. There had always been something fishy about the Four Great Families. They had depths that he couldn't see through, and held secrets that were hard to fathom.

But when they appeared, he could feel the Life Tablet tremble. This trembling wasn't out of fear, but rather because it had sensed something that it recognized. And that could only be the second Life Tablet, the Legacy Life Tablet.

Leonel had realized that there was something weird about the Four Great Families long ago… that was because they had too many treasures that the rest of the world seemed to ignore.

For example, the Emperor's Might Tablet, the Blood Sovereign Tablet… both of these things were endlessly valuable.

The Human Race had been regulated so far that they were forced into hiding behind a formation for years of their lives, and yet no one remembered that these things existed? No one wanted to take them for themselves?

Even if it was for the sake of not allowing the Fawkes to return, the Emperor's Might Tablet should have certainly been at least confiscated. And the Blood Sovereign Tablet was useless to anyone without Blood Force affinity and should be especially enticing to those with Blood Sovereignty.

And yet, these things were put on display to be traded for.

Of course, there was no way that the Four Great Families had meant for these things to come to Leonel's hands. In fact, the matter back then had been a plot of the Three Finger Cult, so it was very likely another machination by the Demoness to allow him to reach this point.

Whatever the truth was, it didn't matter much to him. Since things had already reached this point, there was nothing else to consider.

That was how he felt until he saw two more figures.

The decks of the enormous battleships that seemed to rival the Primordial Terror in size were filled with people, but Leonel's gaze was too sharp, and these two weren't particularly obscure either. In fact, they seemed to hold positions that were quite high, standing there on the deck of the Brazinger family's ship.

The Scorned Queen Beauty.

And Goggles.

Leonel raised an eyebrow, but the light smile on his face didn't fade. If he could stare the Demoness in the eyes, the hatred that he had for these people couldn't even be compared.

A woman his father rejected and a fool that chose to betray him for basically nothing in return. Not only did he still win that battle in the end, but Goggles then had to flee, only to end up beneath the skirt of yet another woman.

With a single glance, Leonel could tell that this idiot had fallen in love with yet another woman that he had no business falling in love with. But… that was also an interesting thing to see for him, nonetheless.

Goggles' betrayal had infuriated him not because of the betrayal itself, but rather because of what implications it had for the life and death of his father. But it also made him accept that death wholeheartedly.

Seeing how Goggles was still such a fool for love made Leonel realize that he wasn't completely different from the Goggles that he had known…

Still, life was interesting, sometimes. Maybe a different decision or two would be enough to turn you and your best friend into lifelong enemies. But likewise… a different decision or two was precisely what made you the best of friends in the first place.

Knowing what those decisions were was probably part of maturing and growing up… that was what life was…

And it was also why, even in the face of all this pressure, even knowing that 90% of those here were both far more powerful than himself and wanted his head on the chopping block…

He could still calmly smile.

BOOM!

The Manifestations of the Great Families began to appear one after another.

The Brazinger family, led by a man with a stoic face, was the first to act. His aura rose into the skies and an image of him appeared above, high and mighty.

At first, it seemed to be just a hollow Manifestation, but then God Runes began to rush into it one after another.

Under the shocked gazes of those present, a normal Ninth Dimensional expert became a Dharma wielder in a flash.

But he wasn't the only one.

One after another… man, woman, child… Dharmas took shape. Thousands of them at once.

At this point, even the Gods that had descended could no longer remain calm. These were still Dharmas and not Idols. However, even amongst the God Races… would a single Race even have this many Dharma experts?

Reaching Godhood didn't suddenly become easy because you were a member of the God Race. In fact, the higher the talent, the more difficult it was. That was because distilling everything you knew and could do into a Dharma, and then subsequently an Idol, was far too difficult.

But the Four Great Families seemed to have a built-in shortcut.

And yet, it wasn't over.

Just as the bearded Brazinger at the helm seemed to be about to take action to breakthrough once more, he seemed to sense something.

'Hm?' This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

He looked down and met Aina's gaze. Then, with a wave of his hand, Aina's battle ax was ripped out of her control.