Chapter 2315 Cruelty
Maxx looked toward Leonel's back, his words escaping him. He should have known, someone like Leonel wouldn't be so easily swayed by moral arguments. Even the most caring of people would have their bottom line, let alone Leonel.
What Maxx could have never guessed was that there truly was a point in Leonel's life where the pull of his morality ruled him. Over the years, those thoughts had been overruled, taken over by a man who killed without hesitation and shed blood without blinking an eye.
It was difficult to tell for an outsider whether this was the fading of a youthful vigor and naiveté, or if it was something else, something deeper.
Leonel, as oblivious as he seemed about his own emotions sometimes, was very much aware of everything happening within him. Even if he missed something, with his memory, he could go back in time, so to speak, watching the changes that took place step by step and understanding what had brought him to this place.
Maxx would never know the answer because Leonel would never tell him. The old Overlord had his own reasons for doing things, and so did Leonel.
Seeing that Leonel was about to walk away, unmoved, Maxx shook his head.
The Morales family was simply not to be trusted. These weren't words he thought of due to Leonel, though at this point, even he couldn't deny the animosity that was building up in his chest. Rather, it was pointed toward the hidden undercurrents within that family.
If Ishmael was still alive, things wouldn't have gotten to this point, and maybe he would have been marrying his son to an Heiress of the Morales instead. But such things couldn't be deliberated over now, especially when things had already reached this point.
Leonel had won. For now. And it seemed that his Suiard family would be forced to be hitched to this wagon. Whether they sunk or swam would be all reliant on the shoulders of this cold and detached young man.
...
Leonel stuck to his word, he would turn the Suiard family into the vanguard of the Morales. He knew what kind of words were spreading about him and the Morales now, and since these were the thoughts that everyone in the Human Domain would have about him, he would simply lean into it.
He knew how these kinds of storms worked. No one would believe that he suddenly became benevolent and started to treat the families he had conquered well. Even if he did, whoever was in the shadows could spin it any number of ways.
For example, what if that person planted the seed that those captured by Leonel would be turned into his loyal soul puppets? And that the only reason he seemed to be treating them all well was because he had already captured their souls just like he had shown many times before.
The abilities of the Fawkes were powerful, but Leonel had no doubt that it had created quite a number of enemies for them over the years. A family that could one day in the past do a favor to the Race like the Pluto, and yet end up regulated to just one descendant locked away in an Incomplete World, most definitely couldn't have fallen so far without many powerful individuals wanting it to be the case.
And right now, Leonel was watching that play out in real time. He made a mental note to himself that he would likely have to be far more cautious with how he displayed his King's Might Lineage Factor once he left this Incomplete World. But for now, there was no use in fretting about it.
It was too late to win the war of public perception, and his actions in releasing the young heirs of the weaker Seventh Dimensional and Sixth Dimensional families was wasted, but that was fine. One of the markers of a great general and strategist wasn't just how good their initial plots were, but also how they adapted to changes in the field.
So, he wouldn't try to win it at all.
Yes, the Morales family were a family of Demons. What were they going to do about it?
Leonel got to work not long later. His plan was simple. Right now, what remained in his way was the remainder of Shield Cross Stars, the Omann family, the Void Palace and the Godlen family.
Shield Cross Stars was mostly crippled, as was the Void Palace. His greatest worry was that the most powerful of Shield Cross Stars, aside from Veiga, hadn't made their moves yet. These were existences like Cross Elder Avan and Overlord Sith.
He had been avoiding the Omann family until now because he knew they would be the most difficult to deal with. They were the only family capable of mitigating the advantage of Leonel's linked armies because they had wealth and Crafting skills comparable to the Morales.
Of course, Leonel didn't believe that there was anyone who could match up to him in this regard, but he was just one person. The Spirituals Formation had already threatened him a great deal, who knew what the Omann had prepared? Especially since the tier 2 starship design that he had improved came from them in the first place.
The Void Palace was most crippled too, but there were still hidden cards of the Cult that had yet to make their presences known. Leonel hadn't forgotten about the large center of Variant Invalids that they should have, nor the large number of Savants that the Void Palace should have accumulated as well.
As for the Godlen family, they were a complete wildcard. He knew nothing about them, and the souls of the Pyius Ancestors had been completely in the dark.
This time, though... Leonel wouldn't be attacking. The time for pushing and launching assaults had ended. He had antagonized the Human Domain enough, and his next series of plans would only antagonize them more. The next phase of this war would be played on his turf.
All were welcome. He would be happy to send them to the grave.
...
One by one Leonel began to brand the experts of the Suiard and Half Spirituals that remained, turning them into the loyal warriors. As he did so, the final straw that would break the camel's back descended.
A group of demons, wearing Morales armors and wielding Morales spears appeared in the depths of the Void Palace. There were just 100 of them, but each one radiated a towering aura. As for when they worked together, even the sturdy lands of the Void Palace crumbled and shattered.
One by one, they killed every elite of the Void Palace. Nominal Disciples, Quadrant Disciple, Galaxy Disciples, Sector Disciples, Domain Disciples, it didn't matter. Rivers of blood ran and each of their corpses was desecrated. Each had a hole in their forehead the size of an Ethereal Glabella.
The demons didn't even try to hide their movements as they returned, paving a streak of crimson across the cosmos as they made their way back to Morales land. Then, without a word, they disappeared. All that remained of the once mighty Void Palace were the corpses of the most promising youths of the most powerful families of the Human Domain. The powder keg exploded.