Chapter 323: CLANG!
Leonel's gaze went completely red.
Within the Joan Zone, he had already seen those like Pierre and Nicolas gaining abilities through Force Arts. They drew these Arts directly onto their bodies, gaining power through their pain and sacrifice.
However, what Leonel had always understood was that these abilities had to come from someone. He didn't know who they came from, but he knew that this was the only way things made sense.
Remembering Little Nana's fear when Margrave asked her to come to him, Leonel's fists clenched so tightly that veins threatened to burst along his forearm. Maybe if it wasn't for his impossibly strong physique, that's exactly what would have happened.
How exactly had they extracted Little Nana's ability from her? What had they put her through?
If the pain for just receiving the ability was so great, what was the pain like for snatching an ability?
Was Little Nana already under their control? Leonel couldn't imagine any other reason they would allow her to roam so freely.
The more he thought about it, the more furious he became.
The first person that Leonel had ever wanted to kill was the Junior Governor Duke. That bastard shot canons at his own citizens – men, women and children who relied on him for protection. Such scum deserved no less than the worse of deaths.
Leonel had never expected that his desire to kill would be unleashed again so soon.
As though something constrained within his body was completely released, the muddied ground beneath his feet quaked, sinking in beneath his might.
Without a thought for anything else, he placed the Segmented Cube within his spatial ring and shot forward.
Watching his back, Arthur and Mordred looked toward the valiant young man. The halo above his head, the violet-bronze aura swirling around his body, his dauntless charge…
The father-daughter pair looked toward one another. A swirl of complex emotions lit Arthur's eyes, but to Mordred it was as though she was looking toward just any other person.
Mordred smiled somewhat playfully, but it was most definitely not the kind of look one gave to their own father.
"I'm going to support him."
Without another word, she too shot forward.
Arthur looked down at his sword then toward the corpses of his comrades. He sighed a sigh that seemed to resonate from the depths of his heart. Rain finally fell onto his body, pelting across his valiant white armor and drenching his golden hair.
Maybe it was only at that moment he decided to come back to earth…
Then, he too charged.
Those who had remained in Leonel's circle of protection looked toward each other. They were just an odd mix of humans and demons. The most powerful among them was probably the #1 Demon Lord Crakos.
They were unsure if they should act as well, but there was truly no choice in the matter. They weren't fools. They felt that if they lost this battle, they would regret it for a lifetime.
Leonel didn't pay attention to who was coming with him. Maybe it was that he didn't care or maybe this was the charisma of a King.
When a General led a vanguard, did he need to look to his back to ensure his Knights were following? When a King entered a room did he need to check to make sure everyone had bowed? When an Emperor looked over a world, did he need make all understand his sovereignty?
Leonel didn't need to look.
With a flip of his palm, the arrow vanished, being replaced by his black spear.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The sounds seemed to resound even more now than they had in the past. It was as though it could feel Leonel's emotions, his valiance, his Kingly aura.
Leonel appeared before the five Aliard family puppets. But, before he could act, he heard a giggle by his ear.
"I'll take them on, little one."
Leonel didn't look back. His steps suddenly became unpredictable and erratic.
Silver Skill 'Abrupt Stop'. Silver Skill 'Explosive First Step'. Gold Skill 'Irregular Steps'.
Leonel brushed by the five as though they weren't there at all.
In that instant, Peirce appeared before him, his two long swords blurring into long shadows beneath the falling rain.
"Leave him to me."
Another voice trailed behind Leonel carrying a fury no less than his own.
Peirce's betrayal was like a knife to King Arthur's heart. He felt like everything he had built as a King was crumbling before him. All the sacrifices he had made, all the tears he had shed, all the blood he had spilt… None of it seemed to matter anymore.
He had lost six of his brothers. He had long since lost his daughter. His wife was hardly his own. And now, his Kingdom was crumbling before his eyes.
What did he have left?
King Arthur roared beneath the rain. It drenched him from head to toe.
He poured his everything into his strike. If he couldn't strike Peirce down today, he would never be able to take a first step.
Leonel used Arthur to surge past Peirce, his eyes training on Aliard.
He entered the range of the mental mage, his mind having returned to a state of eerie calm.
This was the man who had caused him so much trouble from the very beginning. He was the one who set Lamorak against him. He was the one who caused the death of so many innocents. He was the one who treated the life of a little girl as though she was just expendable cattle.
Aliard's lip curled. "You're courting death."
He raised his hand again.
"Bind."
Leonel felt formless shackles cover his body. He could tell that these restrictions were many times more powerful than when Nana used them. It might have been because she was still too young, maybe it was because she still had too little understanding of her own ability, or maybe it was because Aliard's abilities as a mental mage stacked well with Nana's ability.
Whatever the truth was, anyone would feel as though it was impossible to break these shackles. Despite controlling a tied of beasts, Aliard still had plenty of stamina left to deal with Leonel.
"Die."
Leonel's gaze remained expressionless, his eyes boring holes in Aliard.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The sounds of the chains became more furious.
Beneath a King's Domain, you dare to be so disrespectful?!
The words seemed to boom through Aliard's mind.
At that moment, Leonel finally heard the spear's name. In that instant, he had finally grasped a portion of his first Spear Domain.
"Chain Domain."
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
A dome of black light expanded around Leonel. Across its surface, illusory chains whipped about like vines and whips, resonating with the rumbling thunder above.
The binding restrictions Aliard placed down suddenly found themselves being ironically restricted. In the blink of an eye, they weakened by more than half.
With a flex of his body, Leonel shattered them, landing on the ground.
His hair billowed wildly as he stepped toward Aliard, a halo of violet-bronze hanging above his head.
Aliard's calm expression finally cracked. But to Leonel, his reaction didn't mean a thing.
He had come to kill.