1387 At Once
Leonel's words seemed to light a fuse under an atmosphere that just barely seemed to be calming. Many more had survived than one would have thought, much due to Leonel's previous actions. However, in that moment, everyone seemed to remember the original reason why they had all suddenly ended up in this place.
Amery seemed to not have heard Leonel at all, his expression just the same as always. And, oddly enough, despite him continuing to walk and even close in on the egg, Leonel still hadn't looked in his direction.
The youths no longer had much of a choice. There were two Amethyst Tokens handed out this year and it felt that neither was undeserving. The tension alone seemed to prove this.
In any other situation, those who knew well of Amery's strength would have called Leonel foolish. In fact, even at this point, the bias toward him was still very much real. The difference was that it was far less vocal than it had been in the past.
Amery stepped through the maze of eggs, ignoring them all. By this point, the Rapax that remained had grown too weak to do much of anything. The sudden appearance of the shadows had taken out a lot of their remaining strength and the reinforcements they had been waiting on still hadn't appeared. It was unlikely at this point that they would ever appear now.
The strongest of them was the only one that had still had the strength to move around. However, he had found himself crushed by the Variant Invalid even before he could go out in his final blaze of glory.
Leonel watched silently as the Rapax gathered up the last of their strength, pushing themselves up from the ground and steadily walking toward Amery.
Leonel didn't do anything as Amery brandished his sword, cutting them down one after another. No matter how many Rapax fell, another would appear in their place. Even in their final moments, as they breathed their last and fell to the ground, they took special attention not to harm the eggs around them.
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Leonel would almost see through their thoughts entirely. They felt that even if the worst case happened, and their future King was taken away and killed, at least what remained of the younger generation would be able to hold them up.
Amery didn't spare these eggs a glance. However, Leonel could tell that he didn't take any special care to hold himself back from harming them either. If it wasn't for the Rapax using their bodies, at least a dozen eggs would have already been sliced completely through, their lives becoming forfeit before they could even begin to live it.
Leonel suddenly sensed a shadow looming overhead, a pair of hands clasping his cheeks and jaw and lifting his head up. He hadn't even noticed, but sitting on this damned rock, his posture had been as terrible as a Rapax's, slouched and curved, his gaze transfixed to the ground. With his back to everything that was happening, it was his Internal Sight that aided him in spectating everything.
Aina felt her heart sink when she saw Leonel's expression.
His eyes were sunken and dark as though he hadn't slept in years, his face was covered in sweat that drenched her palms, and his skin felt as scolding as the surface of the sun.
He was tired.
And how couldn't he be? Rage could only take you so far. Using a Sixth Dimensional mind was taxing, wielding and restraining atmospheric Scarlet Star Force was taxing, claiming a Quasi Gold Spear was taxing. He hadn't even managed to have a break all this time. Ever since he had stepped foot into Void Palace territory, it was a constant battle, a constant war.
The reason he hadn't moved to stop Amery yet was because he was using the distance the latter had yet to cover as a small buffer to catch his breath.
And yet, Leonel grinned.
"What? Am I that handsome? You look stunned."
Aina was stunned for a moment, not even knowing how to react. She suddenly felt that maybe Leonel and his father weren't so different after all.
"… It's fine, you know. You don't have to save everyone. If you have been a little less stubborn, they all could have taken a lot of burden away from you."
Aina wasn't wrong. Whether it was the shadows, the Rapax, and especially the Variant Invalid, if Leonel had been just a little less hot tempered, it would have been everyone's burden to deal with. Things had started off with Amery being the only 'tired' one, to suddenly him having had the time to recover while it was now Leonel who was coughing up a lung.
Leonel chuckled. It was never about them or saving people. He just wanted to chop off a few heads. He just hadn't accounted for the fact that he would actually want to save a baby Rapax now. Before, he had already decided to trade off giving up on the egg in exchange for teaching the Three Finger Cult a lesson.
Well, now that he thought about it, that decision was pretty reckless too. The Three Finger Cult wasn't going anywhere, but a Shadow Sovereign ability in his hands would be an extraordinary boon to his future. By then, it would only be a matter of time before he slaughtered them.
But sometimes… Leonel somewhat liked doing the thing that wasn't the most logical. It made him feel more human.
Feeling the warmth of Aina's small hands on his face, he smiled. A beauty being worried about his health was pretty nice, what more could a man ask for?
Leonel reached out, grabbing his spear and slowly rising until he towered over Aina.
At that moment, Amery had reached the egg, the last Rapax having fallen to his feet. He calmly took out an embroidered box as though there was no one else around him.
"I expect a reward for gallantly saving the world." Leonel said with a grin, still not looking toward the swordsman.
Aina rolled her eyes. "If we worked together, dealing with him would be easy."
"Sure. But I have a few debts to settle first."
Amery lightly closed the lid of the box, the egg having vanished.
And at that instant, both he and Leonel moved at once.