- Glass Dome

The arrow that had soared by Leonel and Aina suddenly rose back up and shot back, landing in Balthorn's elder brother's palm as though it had always been there.

'Telekinesis? No… This is a bit different from that. The control was specifically on the arrow tip. There's no reason for that unless what he can control is limited to metal and metal alone.'

Thinking back to Balthorn and her control over those massive and heavy steel balls, Leonel came to a realization.

It was either that these siblings just so happened to awaken similar abilities. Or, this was related to the Lineage Factor of their family.

It had to be remembered that the awakening of abilities was completely random, it was a gift given by the Universe and technically gave those with weak backgrounds a chance to rise up.

As such, there was no shortage of individuals from powerful families who awoke abilities that were completely useless. In fact, Leonel had fought his fair share of battles where the losing party didn't use their ability even when a loss was imminent.

It's clear that in that situation, it wouldn't be a matter of hiding one's trump card, but rather a case where this 'trump card' was useless.

The most common abilities were low level boosts to one's physical attributes like strength or speed or eyesight or maybe hearing. Not all abilities had all the fancy bells and whistles Sael's ability did, and most weren't as useful as Leonel's despite not having a tangible form.

From Leonel's deduction, Balthorn was likely born with a useless ability, which was why she didn't use it even when her life was on the line against the Titan Hyena. As for her brother… Well, his control over their Lineage Factor was clearly much greater and had a much greater range. But, only time would tell if his ability was useless.

Or, rather it would if Leonel hadn't already used the dictionary to check everyone's ability and knew for a fact that his ability was indeed 'useless'. But, his sharpened eyesight most definitely helped with his archery.

At that moment, the second guardian fell. But, this one was taken by Raylion who had still not shattered his first orb.

The tension in the group seemed to reach another level. No one seemed eager to allow Leonel and Aina to continue leading the group, but no one wanted to stand too close to each other either.

Unfortunately, in such a tense atmosphere, one couldn't possibly expect peace to last for long… and that it didn't. holds © this.

It didn't even take much time at all. When the group reached the fourth pair of guardians, hell erupted.

The moment they appeared, the Leader of Severed Heart, a man with an expression that seemed carved out of the purest ice cold, took action swiftly, a spear of lightning appearing before him and tearing a path toward the guardian.

However, at that same instant, Sael seemed to want to make a move as well. Her wrist manifested several swirling petals. But, instead of becoming her melee weapons like last time, she seemed to have evolved them to become capable projectiles.

The path of the lightning spear and seemingly dainty petals crashed, resulting in an explosion that ended up not injuring even a hair on the guardians.

At that same instant, Balthorn's elder brother moved again, but his action was impeded by Aphestus who also seemed to want in.

But, Aphestus didn't have any long ranged attacks, so he directly deflected the Bear Rose Vice Leader's arrows before grabbing it out of the air.

Clearly not willing to let such a thing slide, Balthorn's brother let loose a rain of arrows, not giving Aphestus a chance in the slightest.

In an instant, though only four were fighting, it essentially placed eight in a deadlock. Though the petite girl by Balthorn's brother hadn't moved yet, one would think that she wasn't as simple as she looked, especially since Raylion had yet to take action.

At the same time, Severed Heart's Vice Leader was glaring daggers at Sael's companion, seemingly only waiting for an opportunity to tear him to shreds.

Leonel watched all of this with a helpless expression while Sarrieth and Radlis didn't seem amped to take action.

Seeing Leonel's gaze from across the sparking lights of the battlefield, Radlis put two thumbs up, raising them to the sides of his pale face as he looked from Aina to Leonel and back again.

Even though Aina was masked, he still couldn't help but click his tongue. This woman was truly too pristine.

Leonel was left speechless by this Radlis once again. If it was anyone else ogling Aina like this, he'd probably send a few arrows their way. But, this Radlis always seemed to be covered in a thin layer of fog. Leonel couldn't tell if he was serious or not.

Up to this point, none of Radlis' actions seemed to add up.

Leonel shook his head and chose to calmly observe the battle. Considering how long this corridor was, he was under no illusions that this would end any time soon. They might spend weeks, even months in this place.

If they had to fight it out like this every time, it would take even longer. So, Leonel was under no illusions that he had to save everyone.

These people were aware of the dangers and they were still fighting, he wasn't their babysitter. If some got eliminated early here, it would be better for the atmosphere of the group.

The best he could do for them was if one was close to dying, he would just throw them into a snowglobe to give them a chance. That was the best his kindness could give them right now.

Leonel's eyes began to wander. Even though his senses remained trained on the battlefield in case anything untoward could happen, he found that this hall was far more fascinating than he gave it credit for.

Leonel's pupils suddenly constricted.

The glass dome above them had originally been flooded with sunlight. But, the moment the hall went dark, only illuminating a small light around the bronze statues, the sunlight had also disappeared.

But now, with the sun gone, Leonel was suddenly able to see subtle patterns that the bright lights had obscured before.

'Those patterns…?'

Leonel flipped over a palm, bringing out a familiar ring.

But, what he hadn't expected was that the moment he did, he vanished, leaving just eleven youths behind.