If Leonel's greatest weakness was his small numbers, then Xavnik's greatest weakness was that he simply had too many subordinates.
There were too many factions, too many families, too many powers. Each one had their own thoughts, and though they had come together, this was under the assumption that Xavnik was their best choice and the best leader they had.
If they were suddenly given reason to not agree with this, then what would they do?
Leonel had obviously thought of the possibility that these subordinates were procured for Xavnik by the Three Finger Cult or the Demon Race, but would they all be? How could such a top-tier secret be kept by so many people? Leonel believed that it was likely the only people who were aware of this information amongst Xavnik's subordinates were those in the highest echelons.
The likelihood that those so high up in their families would be participating in this Heir War was next to zero. It had to be remembered that the age limit was 100 years old. It would be very rare for someone of that status to be trusted with such information.
Even if Leonel took a step back and believed that such people were within these walls and participating in this matter, how many of this 100 million number would there be? Maybe one for every million? Less than that? Would they even be able to control the situation if a rebellion occurred?
Of those that had died, there were brothers, there were sisters, there were parents, there were friends. Leonel really wanted to see what Xavnik would do now. He probably hadn't even informed them just yet that so many had recently died.
While death was an inevitable part of the Heir Wars, this sort of death wasn't the kind that those below would be able to accept. It only made the situation worse that Heirs usually had a way out, while subordinates could only accept their fate, dying when they came across something they couldn't defeat.
As expected, Leonel's words had hardly fallen when the discomfort within Xavnik's army began to spread.
Leonel had hardly done anything. He had simply spoken a few words and Xavnik fell head first into his trap, thinking himself to be bold and clever. Even now, he continued to smile, not in a single hurry to attack at all.
Soon, the disorder in the army continued, reaching a pinnacle and certain sections began to peel off, looking toward Xavnik with unfriendly gazes.
Despite the animosity they felt, they didn't dare to attack Xavnik directly. They were just members of small families, how could they lay hands on a Morales Heir? At the same time, Xavnik's survival was their only way out of this place without losing their lives. If they had had an easy method of snatching his badge, they would have done it.
On the city walls, Simona's gaze flickered. She looked down toward Leonel with an unreadable expression.
Her deepest interaction with Leonel had been in Rapax Nest. He defeated Amery with three arrows, defeated those Variant Invalids with ease, and had even carved out a path for them to escape utilizing nothing but the materials around him. He had always been unfathomable to her, but this was the first time she was truly seeing it.
The Leonel she had met back then was trying to be someone he wasn't, pulling himself toward being more serious and professional. He seemed to have completed his transformation in their most recent interaction. But now... he somehow felt far more natural, far more like himself, as though a burden he had been carrying had suddenly vanished.
If she knew what Leonel had gone through recently, she would have truly been rendered speechless. How could learning of such a thing relieve his burdens? Especially given how he had reacted to the news initially?
Xavnik watched as his subordinates backed away from him. He didn't say even a single word, he didn't try to plead for them to stop, in fact he hadn't even looked at them directly just yet, his eyes entirely focused on Leonel from start to finish.
He had, indeed, had a great plan. He was going to swiftly crush the Pyius family and then retreat under the pretext of having been ambushed. Of course, Leonel would know that this was nonsense because he was allied with the Pyius family to begin with, but he wasn't important, it was instead the remaining enemies.
While Leonel was distracting the Suiard family, and he was "retreating", the Omann family might try to take advantage of the situation. Like this, Leonel would likely be assaulted by the Suiard Alliance, and he would be able to catch the Omann family suddenly off guard and deal them a decisive blow.
Like this, he would have played all of his enemies in his palm and he would come out on top. But now... it all seemed so silly and worthless.
Xavnik finally calmed down and chuckled. He hadn't been this enraged maybe ever. He had truly been played by this littlest cousin of his.
Soon, much of Xavnik's army had peeled away. When they made it into the distance without Xavnik reacting, they began to move faster, forming a large and larger gap. Soon, many were even over a kilometer away, but even then, Xavnik didn't do anything.
However... not everyone left. In fact, over 10 million remained. Even so, a loss over almost 90% without a single battle was a truly shocking matter.
Leonel's smile deepened. To him, this was just a little game. In the overall scheme, those 90 million Xavnik had just lost were nothing more than cannon fodder, these 10 million remaining, each one with stone faces and gazes that didn't seem to perceive anything around them at all... These 10 million were the true danger.
"... You've really succeeded in pissing me off, Littlest Nova," Xavnik said lightly, his smile returning. "Let's decide which of us will be the final Morales right here and now."
"Oh? That's unfortunate," Leonel pouted. "I thought we were really hitting it off, what happened to our alliance?"
Aina and Simona bit their lips, seemingly trying to hold back their laughter. This Leonel... was truly too good at pissing people off.
Ysemsan slowly unsheathed a saber, his expression as dark as night.
Xavnik didn't answer Leonel directly, instead waving a hand and pointing.
"Flatten the city."
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