Blood flew from Leonel's lips like a jet. However, he still spun before he hit the ground, crashing into the earth face first.

He slammed his fists downward, still keeping a tight grip on his spear as he tried to propel himself upward.

But, he still wasn't quick enough.

The air was kicked out of Leonel once again, the left side of his rib caving in as a foot found its way to his side.

He shot across the skies once again, slamming through several building.

Any human in Leonel's position would have long since been smashed into meat paste. The strength of the Puppet Master was simply beyond anything Earth had seen to this point.

Every step of evolution for an Invalid might have been several times more difficult than their human counterparts, but the result was a monster so powerful it held no weaknesses.

The Puppet Master might have had an ability that gave it great mental strength, but it's body and Force usage was no less powerful.? Even after thing all out, Leonel only barely managed to cause the Variant to suffer a few nicks and scratches. The truth was simply devastating.

Leonel coughed out another mouthful of blood. His bare chest was completely covered by his own blood,? even more leaking out from the wound in his stomach.

"What rich blood! So warm! So rich! So splendid!"

The taste of Leonel made the Variant feel as though it was walking on a cloud. It was like a strong wine, burning its throat and warming its belly. Its body seemed to be lit on fire, but it had never felt better.

Just a few mouthfuls already had it feeling like it could break into the Fifth Dimension at any time. It hadn't ever experienced such a feeling before, it had never felt that a breakthrough would be so easy either.

It had thought that it had tasted the peak of delicacies after sampling Aina's blood. But, it had never been so wrong before.

Now it wanted more. If Leonel's blood was so good, what about his flesh? The Puppet Master suddenly began to fantasize about gnawing on Leonel's tendons, stirring his bone marrow into a soup, spreading his brain matter onto a plate and using it as a dip for his fingers.

The more it thought about it, the greater the fire in its belly became, an excitement flushing its face completely red.

SHUUU!

The siege crossbows responded to Leonel's command. Of the original more than 50, not more than 10 remained. But, Leonel still used his Chain Domain to aim them, all firing for the Puppet Master's vital points.

The Puppet Master looked up, suddenly finding several bolts flying toward it.

But, it only stretched out a hand, an illusory arm of crimson energy forming once again, swatting at the air.

In the blink of an eye, the siege bolts that could pierce through the walls of even the most fortified cities were smacked away as though annoying flies.

Their flight trajectories were altered, whizzing and whistling through the night skies until they tore through what remained standing of Hargrove City's buildings.

Leonel coughed again, another mouthful of blood flying from him.

He weakly stood, his gaze somewhat vacant. He stretched out his spear before him, the rattling of his Chain Domain still ringing true.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

In the distance, the happiness of the Eartherner army had long since faded into an almost rabid desire for success. They fought harder and faster, almost forgetting that they had already been fighting for a day.

Not many knew that Leonel was a Prince. After weaseling his way out of the ceremony he was supposed to receive for his achievements, what should have been his debut became hushed chatter amongst the nobles.

But, at this point, it didn't matter.

In the mind of all those who laid eyes on that back of his from the distance, all they saw was a young man fighting with his life on the line for their sake.

If Leonel's actions had really only been about getting revenge for Aina, is this the approach he would have chosen? At the very least, shouldn't he have dealt with Anared first so there wasn't a constant looming threat to his back?

It was obvious that despite his words, he had risked it all to bring the Invalid out sooner than it would have otherwise. Just those few precious moments saved hundreds more from succumbing to their fates.

Such a hero couldn't be left to die alone.

Noah clenched his jaw, the youths to his back fighting with more fervor than they ever had before.

They had to break through enemy lines. They had to reach Hargrove City.

Leonel gripped his spear, blood sliding between his fingers and coating its black body.

The drizzle of crimson snaked through the chains, dropping to the ground in small droplets.

Universal Force shook Leonel's surroundings, his vacant eyes seemingly gazing at empty space.

The Puppet Master's flushed excitement only grew. holds © this.

Its feet stamped hard on the ground, crossing the final distance between the two in just a few breaths.

It rose a hand high up, clawing down toward Leonel. This single strike would not only take a large portion of Leonel's face away, but it would also hook into his collarbone, ripping the front of his body away from the back.

It was the kind of vicious strike that reaped lives with overwhelming strength.

But... Leonel sidestepped it, the flat of the Puppet Master's nails just barely grazing the tip of his nose as he struck out with his spear.

The Puppet Master reacted quickly, parrying Leonel's pierce with the back of its hand and reaching the other toward Leonel's throat.

With a flicker, a black chain darted out from Leonel's Chain Domain, rebounding against the Puppet Master's claw and giving Leonel time to lean his head to the side and sweep his spear for the Puppet Master's waist.

A scorching heat followed Leonel's sweeping motion.

The Puppet Master frowned, not understanding the changes going on before it. But, its reaction was swift.

Instead of dodging, it took a step forward.

In this range, the blade of Leonel's spear missed it as its polearm crashed into the Puppet Master's hip.

The strike should have been enough to shatter bones and splinter flesh. But, the Variant was completely unmoved, booming a knee directly into Leonel's open wound.

Leonel coughed up another mouthful of blood, his body curling as it flew through the air once again.

Even though Leonel had lost the quick exchange, the Puppet Master's head tilted, its eyes, which had once been tainted with hunger and blood lust dimming.

It was certain that it had wanted to devour Leonel right here and now. So, why did it kick him away again?