The wildness in Xavnik's eyes vanished, their blackness disappeared and the whiteness that returned enveloped his entire iris. He had entirely lost consciousness, standing there wide-eyed and unable to believe it.
He slowly fell backward, collapsing to the ground with an anti-climactic thud.
"Oo, scary," Leonel shuddered. Aina was more powerful than even he had thought. The moment her manifestation came out, her strength soared. It seemed that it was even more powerful in the Seventh Dimension than it had been in the Sixth. It might as well have been an entirely new ability.
The most shocking part was that she hadn't even used her battle ax, or her Blood Sovereign abilities. Although she was in her demon form, one of her more powerful abilities, it seemed to have been a lingering change from her battle with Syriah, she just hadn't bothered to disperse it. Leonel had a feeling that victory would have been just as easy with or without it.
Leonel stood with a smile, seemingly about to pat Aina's shoulder. But before he could, one of her black feathers zipped by, forcing him to retrieve his hand. Leonel laughed, it seemed that she was still a bit mad.
"Hmph," Aina harrumphed, walking away.
"Wait! Wife! Don't leave without me!"
Aina continued to ignore him without a care in the world. Her speed was exceptional, unless Leonel used his Spatial Force, he probably wouldn't be able to catch up with her if she didn't want him to.
Without a choice, Leonel could only laugh and give up, returning to the battlefield. Amery still seemed to be in the process of healing, having not even regained consciousness, while Xavnik and the shadow woman had separated again.
Leonel stood in silence for a long while, wondering what he should do.
Xavnik was a difficult choice, obviously. Although he had deduced that he was a problem, killing a member of his own family under the eyes of so many would be difficult to explain. With Xavnik defeated, it was clear that the winner of the Patriarch position of the Morales for this generation was none other than himself, Leonel Morales.
If he chose to kill Xavnik right now, especially when Aina was the one to have defeated him, it would be hard to convince others. And since the shadow woman was obviously Xavnik's close companion, it was also difficult to kill her just because.
Aina had obviously known this. Since she was so much more powerful than the two of them, if she had still ended up killing them, then she would be seen as cruel.
As for Amery, Leonel's reason for not taking action immediately was very different than it was for Xavnik. He didn't fear what the backlash would be for killing him, he was ready for war. Plus, it was he who had defeated Amery with his own hands, that was clear and obvious to everyone. In addition, he had already said that aside from his family, anyone who landed in his hands would die.
Even with all of this set aside, he was also tempted by Amery's Gaia Force Innate Node. He didn't care much about the Dark Force Innate Node, but if he had this Gaia Force Innate Node, it would be a game-changer. This issue here was actually his conscience.
Setting aside what the Suiard family might be wrapped up in, Amery was someone worth his respect. He had had an advantage in strength for a long while, but the only time he had "targeted" Leonel was when only one of them could continue forward in the Dimensional Cleanse Trial.
Of course, that was only because Amery looked down on him and was extremely arrogant, but wasn't he also extremely arrogant? Someone who could stick to their principles like this even after suffering a humiliating defeat with their strength suppressed was someone who would definitely become someone great in the future.
Someone like Amery was needed for the coming storm. Leonel believed there was a very good reason those running this "simulation" had allowed him to meet those of other "simulations" during the Tribulation. There was a very good chance that this wouldn't be the last time, and when that time came... those geniuses wouldn't have their Lineage Factors and Ability Indexes suppressed.
Leonel could tell by Amery's Sword Force that he had experienced the same Tribulation as himself, he too was a True Sword Sovereign. If not for this, how could he push Leonel so far? In addition, this was obviously a key to survival, Leonel was certain of it.
There was a reason they were being pitted against one another in the Tribulations, Leonel felt that this was just an appetizer to the bigger cause and effect. If he was correct about these simulations being created to deal with a much larger threat, then it was obvious that only the best of the simulations would survive in the end, this was an obvious case of survival of the fittest.
Having Amery alive would be more useful than not. Had he died beneath Leonel's blade, he wouldn't have been worthy of this consideration, but the fact he had actually managed to survive made Leonel second-guess things.
That said, there was a very clear flaw to all of this thinking: the Suiard family's relationship with the Three Finger Cult and Xavnik.
This one thought should have caused everything else to be thrown out of the window.
Leonel suddenly smiled. With a thought, he brought out a snow globe and put Amery inside. The Suiard family, who were already sitting on tenterhooks, were in an uproar when this happened. Had Leonel just captured their greatest genius? Their future Patriarch?
Leonel didn't care about the reaction of others. His scope was far beyond that of others.
Soon, not to mention the Human Domain, the entire Dimensional Verse would be under his control. Who cared about what plans and schemes the Suiard family had?
Just like when he had captured Old Hutch's grandson for his own uses, and just like how he had teamed up with Heira, those that were useful to him could live, those that weren't could die.
The geniuses he had killed until now were worthless in his eyes, but Amery wasn't. He had far more potential to grow much stronger, and Leonel had all the confidence in the world to subdue him.
Leonel walked toward Xavnik and the shadow woman, storing them away in snow globes as well. As for these two, just because he wouldn't kill them, didn't mean he would allow them to run amok and cause him future trouble.
Now, these Heir Wars were soon to be finished. The only enemy that remained was the Omann family, but if his calculations were correct, they would fall without him even having to be present. After all, he had sent the Cloud Race along with James and the others after them.
However, just as Leonel was feeling complacent, his gaze suddenly sharpened. He flipped a palm and took out a communication device.
His eyes turned red with fury and he took a step and vanished. The "injured" Leonel moved so fast that the air itself seemed to be torn into shreds.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m