AGAIN
BOOM!
The two separated, and they landed on the ground heavily. The world of white shattered apart beneath them.
Both bent their knees at the same time, ready to accelerate forward. However, the weight they carried on their shoulders was far too much. Just the act of sinking themselves down in preparation for an acceleration was far too much.
The world of white finally couldn't hold up anymore, and it collapsed.
Feeling the world failing around him, the two men came to a stop, staring at one another from a distance.
Velasco raised a hand to his glasses and adjusted them. Then, he gave Leonel a cheeky smile. "Got you again!
Leonel's eyes widened.
However, those were the last words he heard before his father disappeared into wisps of smoke.
Leonel found himself standing outside, a deep laughter beginning to rumble through his chest before it collapsed into sobs.
He knew what his dad meant. That man always loved his pranks. His favorite sort of prank was his voicemail joke, pretending that he was there on the other line... when in reality, he wasn't.
When Leonel saw his father adjust his glasses, he had felt his heart leap into his throat. He had really wanted to believe.
But those words at the end...
They were just like him.
Leonel leaned on his spear, his tears falling like a torrential rainfall.
IIe raised his head to the skies and roared a furious bellow.
The statues that came before were shattered one after another, unable to withstand his rage. In that moment, it felt as though the whole of Existence could hear him.
His fury, his unwillingness... the last of his grief.
And yet, all the while, even while leaning on his spear his father gave him, his back remained straight.
He wouldn't place down the burden on his back this time. He refused to allow it to collapse for even the slightest moment.
He had felt it in the weight of his father's blows. The invisible aura that he carried around wasn't just a matter of Destruction and its constructs... it was also about the responsibility of a man.
All his life, Velasco had carried those burdens silently and without complaints, joking around with everyone he came across and living a carefree life.
Maybe before he met his mother, he had never had any intention of marrying at all. He knew what sort of life he would have to face and didn't want to have to burden anyone with missing him.
Life was odd in that way, that disgusting mixture of emotion that made it impossible for anyone to place their feelings in a neat and tidy little box.
Leonel could imagine the thoughts of his father were similar... both feeling thankful that he had such
a family and regretful that he had forced them to experience such a thing.
In some way, Leonel should probably be thankful to the Idol Battlefield for using his father like this, thankful that he had had an opportunity to receive the last of his father's legacy, thankful that he could see his father's smile one last time.
But he wasn't thankful.
He was filled with a belly full of rage that he couldn't settle down no matter how hard he tried. The weight on his back was only becoming heavier and heavier, as he looked up.
Ilis father's statue was the only one that deserved to be here.
If this Idol Battlefield wanted to use him, it was free to have him.
Leonel slowly raised his head, every one of his movements seeming to carry the weight of the world. Even with a casual raise of his head like this, it was like the world was shuddering to accommodate him.
His gaze landed on the final statue, the rage flickering deep within his eyes.
He took a step and vanished.
When he appeared again, he found an old man sitting cross-legged with a spear across his lap. He wore white, blemishless robes and his head of sparse white hair danced in the wind.
However, there was no wind to speak of in this place at all. The man's aura was simply that thick. He slowly opened his eyes, staring at Leonel with an amiable smile.
"You have a lot of rage-!
Leonel slashed down.
The old man blinked, but his reaction wasn't slow. In one moment, he was sitting in peaceful meditation, and in the next he was already on his feet, the large sleeves of his robes fluttering as he pierced out to meet Leonel's strike.
His spear didn't have any fancy tricks to it at all. There didn't seem like there was anything to learn. Maybe this man was the progenitor of the spear itself, the man who forged the Spear Force and allowed everyone after him to use it.
It was no wonder he was the first statuc.
The two clashed, and the flicker of Leonel's spear began to match his cadence. He swallowed up the man's spear, and his movements became faster.
A violent aura burst around Leonel, and the beauty of his spear dance seemed to return.
In the past, his Spear Dance had been gorgeous, but then it had slowly become simpler and more refined until he could complete the Spear Dance in just a single strike.
And now... he could still complete it in a single strike, but the slice across the air was absolutely mesmerizing.
The man seemed to easily sense the blade hidden within Leonel's Creation World, but. Leonel didn't seem to care in the slightest.
The old man showed some surprise by the third exchange, and by the fourth, he was completely serious.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Leonel suddenly seemed to pierce through a veil. His body flickered and vanished, and for the first time, the old man's spear seemed both hurried and flustered.
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PUCHI!
The old man's head flew into the skies, the light of shock still in his gaze.Content © provided by .
"Who gave you the right to be ranked ahead of my father?"