WHO ELSE?
Elorin's focus grew more and more intense as the battle went on. His body split into several iterations, and the Fawkes watched in horror as each one was split apart.
Rains of blood fell from the skies, but every time, Florin seemed to successfully avoid the iteration that led to death.
At the same time, he seemed to be quickly grasping the methods of using Time Force.
Elorin, if he had a master, it would no doubt be Anastasia. However, for a long while, Anastasia was only able to give him a foundational understanding of Time Force. By the time her mind was fixed and she could have more complex thoughts, she was distracted by Leonel's asks of her and couldn't give Florin more guidance than that.
However, as the battle went on, Elorin was quickly finding that the foundation that Anastasia gave him was invaluable.
It was as though he had been given all the tools and formulas already; he just had to learn how to apply them.
Every time he saw a technique that the Pluto used, he was able to take it on himself and grasp it. He was like a dry sponge, soaking up everything he came across.
As Leonel Crafted down below, he spared one part of his mind to pay attention, and he couldn't help but be surprised.
Back when Elorin formed his Dharma, a fan of silver machetes that carried the aura of Time, it had been mostly on a whim and in acknowledgment of the sacrifices his grandfather had made for him. But the problem was that he had wanted to use all the training he had done in Time Force and exchange it for training in Blade Force instead.
Leonel had felt that that would be a shame, so he enlisted Anastasia's help so that he could keep both.
The reason this was important now wasn't just because Elorin's Time Force and Blade Force were now both on a shockingly high level, or even that they were both likewise improving a great deal...
But instead how much that reminded him of Violet Force.
He, of course, hadn't been able to put two and two together before because he only awakened King Force after the Florin fiasco took place. But now, this sort of exchange for time or substance for something else... it felt like an inferior version of his King Force.
There was a question that had been bothering Leonel all this while, and it was why or how did his King Force appear in the Viola Family to begin with?
It was a Force that only he could use, and logically speaking, there was no reason for it to appear in such a place.
The only real answer seemed to be that it was related to his master, Nilrem. After all, the Viola Family and the Luxnix shared a corner of space together. If Nilrem wanted to do it, it might be possible if he wanted to experiment a bit.
But that didn't explain why.
The Viola were gone. He hadn't seen any sign of them in the Ascension Empire's new stomping grounds, which meant that they had truly been wiped out... though, most of that had been done by Leonel's own hands.
It was odd... odd indeed.
'Unless...'
Leonel's gaze flickered, a bad feeling welling up in his heart.
Now that he thought about it, Rychard hadn't been able to make even subtle use of his 'Violet' Force until he came back from the Cataclysm Zone.
The "Cataclysm Zone, though, was already something that Leonel knew to be the Complete World of the Humans, and the very place he had ended up after leaving the Dimensional Verse.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.
Before that, the Violet Force of Rychard could have been mistaken for a heaviness Force that added weight to his attacks.
Although Rychard said it was mostly to fool people and hide the true strength of their Lineage Factor, that was nothing but hogwash. If they could have used it properly, the Violet. Family would have never fallen so easily.
'Lineage Factor! Time Force!'
The thoughts steamrolled through Leonel's mind, and a cold sweat matted his back. Sparks of lightning rampaged through his mind.
He was that close... that close...
He thought he had already jumped off of her chessboard with his death, but to think that he was still entrapped in her web.
But how had she done it?
Leonel's thoughts seemed to ramble, feeling a bit incoherent.
Elorin's battle had made him realize something profound.
The way Rychard explained his Violet Force, and the way Leonel used his King Force, were completely different.
Rychard described exchanging time for something else. But Leonel just took what he wanted; he didn't really consider the mechanisms.
It was odd because it was a Force that he created himself. It was almost like an athlete trying to describe exactly how they caught a ball or threw a pass. The foundational mechanics could easily become murky given the right circumstances.
Leonel had assumed, then, that his Force and that of the Viola family's were one and the same. What he hadn't considered was that maybe someone had tweaked the latter just a slight bit. Violet Force could only be used by him, but what if there was a workaround for it? What if someone knew that he wouldn't form his Idol in this life with his King Force, but instead suppress it to a Dharma, thus weakening his overall control and dominance over the Force while birthing it into the world nonetheless?
And what if this same person managed to find a method of generating the use of Violet Force through the sacrifice of an entire family of people?
And, what if even on top of all of this, this person managed to trick even his master into doing their bidding for them, making it so that Leonel didn't question the appearance of this Force, and his master wouldn't even bring it up?
Who else could it be if not the Demoness?