MONSTERS

"… These little monsters…"

Nilrem was much like his disciple. He was rarely impressed by anything. He was a man who had managed to climb to this height all on his own. He had no family behind him, no friends, his own wife had stabbed him in the back… but now he stood tall in the God Realm, pissing over the gates of bastards who pissed him off and stealing their women. It was hard for such a man to be fazed by anything. But sensing the synergy between Leonel and Aina now, he couldn't help but be shocked. This level of Crafting… There was no doubt. It was the best in Existence right now. When he came to this conclusion, he was completely floored. One had to understand what this meant. There were monsters that had dedicated their entire lives to Crafting, lives that spanned across millions of years in some cases. They lived and breathed this. Not only this, but these monsters tended to build their understanding and comprehension on the backs of those that had come before them… the giants whose shoulders they stood on had also been monsters who dedicated millions of years to their Crafts. But not only were Aina and Leonel a mere fraction of their age, but they didn't have a background nearly as profound. Most of what they knew now they had either learned on their own, or… 'That man… maybe he's the real monster…'

How could Nilrem not be interested in the father of his disciple? How many iterations had he been forced to live because of Leonel's pursuit of resurrecting his father? It was funny, actually. The first time he met Leonel's father in this iteration, he had actually been out-maneuvered by the man. He had been trying to "take over" Leonel's body and Velasco's protection triggered. With this context, it seemed like Nilrem had allowed this to happen on purpose, but that wasn't exactly the case. Well, it hadn't been the first time it happened, that is. He remembered during the second and third Iterations, his ego had been triggered so he tried to circumvent it on purpose… only to end up suffering anyway. In fact, he had almost died back then because Velasco thought he was too dangerous for almost succeeding. By comparison, the Velasco of this iteration let him live because he thought that he would be a good grindstone for his son. Nilrem still felt a cold sweat when he thought about those days. It would have been far too embarrassing to die to a man that had never stepped out of an Incomplete World before. Nilrem shook his head. 'A true monster… but…'

He suppressed his thoughts. Even he didn't dare to casually think about the Demoness. Maybe the only person in the world who dared to do such a thing right now was Leonel. The elephant in the room was obvious. Since Nilrem had been through so many iterations… did he know what the true purpose of the Demoness was? Given how intelligent Leonel was, he would have obviously thought of such a question. So why hadn't he ever bothered to ask Nilrem about it? The answer was simple. That was because Nilrem didn't know. Nilrem was so powerful that even when Leonel sent his mind back in time to try different methods of saving his father, he had been aware of it. He was one of the very few existences in, well… Existence that could boast such a thing. Though, part of the reason he could was because Leonel had allowed him to while hiding it from most. However, no matter which iteration it was, the Demoness never appeared. It was like she had vanished from Existence, which was impossible. That only meant one thing… The Demoness hadn't disappeared at all. Instead… She was completely unaffected by future Leonel's time reversals and stood above and outside of them. What did this mean? It meant that she was waiting for Leonel to finish playing his little games before she executed her real plan. However, matters still weren't this simple… that was because future Leonel had mentioned having already crushed the Demoness… So why was Nilrem unaware of all of this? The simple answer seemed to be that Nilrem had died first. However… Leonel knew that the answer wasn't so simple. This woman was the true bane of his existence and likely to be the strongest expert to ever be born. Maybe even the Northern Star couldn't hold her down. Nilrem's eyes became more solemn the more he thought about it. 'Seems I will need to leave for a while. Otherwise, she might begin to affect me. I need a cleansing…' All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Nilrem hadn't wanted to think about such things, but they came in a cascade. There was no such thing as being too cautious in the face of such a powerful Dream Force expert. He left a message for Leonel in the air and then vanished. He stepped out of the Segmented Cube even without Anastasia's input as though it was never capable of trapping him in the first place. Leonel saw the message in the first instant, but he was deep in a state of concentration with Aina and didn't have the time to mind it. He already had a guess as to what had happened, and it made his eyes flicker with malevolence. One day… he would crush that woman. The refinement process continued. The months ticked by and the changes were quickly becoming more and more obvious until, suddenly. CRACK. The skies split like an egg's shell. Beads of sweat fell from Leonel and Aina's brows. They knew that this was the most crucial part. If they failed, this world would likely fall apart completely. But if they succeeded… They would gain the greatest God Armament in Existence. Not only that, but this God Armament would become the foundation of their Kingdom, where they would not only stand as King and Queen, but their children would live a life of prosperity. The two roared at the same time.