Dimensional Descent

Leonel immediately found himself to be at a great disadvantage.

The Rapax was stronger, faster, and its defenses felt impenetrable. Its naturally formed armor was already stronger than and more resistant to blades than most weapons Leonel had come across to this point. But, this was only a small part of the issue.

In Leonel's battle with Myghell, he had purposely chosen not to use his Ability Index. He had wanted to have a fun and blood boiling battle, and, quite frankly, he didn't believe he would have struggled very much at all if he used his calculative abilities to force the latter into a corner.

However, because his Internal Sight was useless against the Rapax, it made Leonel feel that even if he wanted to use his Ability Index, he couldn't. Whenever he tried to lock onto the Rapax, it was as though he had locked onto thin air. He couldn't read and calculate its movements, he couldn't sense its flow of Force, he couldn't even tell what emotions it was feeling right now or if Rapax even experienced the same range of emotions humans did.

Without the ability to do this, Leonel could only calculate his own movements. But, because he could only use his eyes to monitor the Rapax, not to mention the fact he wasn't familiar with its anatomy at all to begin with, the result was just him repeatedly retreating.

It also didn't help that this was the first kicking expert Leonel had ever fought before, he didn't even have a human frame of reference, let alone one for a Rapax.

Leonel couldn't even tell what Tier this Rapax was at. For all he knew, this creature was still in the Third Dimension, giving him all the trouble he could possibly ask for.

Luckily, the trees around him were like absolute defenses. Or so Leonel thought until…

Leonel continued to shoot backward, mapping out a path to his back. His steps were nimble and his gaze was cold.

He ducked behind another tree, and that was exactly when it happened.

Losing its patience, the Rapax kicked out anyway. As though a knife through butter, its curves claws split the side of a black tree into four, shooting for Leonel's head and appearing before him in the blink of an eye.

Leonel's pupils constricted. He had been leaning his head to one side of the tree to begin with because he had to keep an eye on the Rapax at all times. If he failed to do so, there was no telling if it would find a way to vanish  outside the line of his sight. Unfortunately, that caution allowed just enough of his head to be exposed to the side. The Rapax shouldn't have had the angle to harm him.. but who would have thought that it would go through the tree itself?!

Leonel released a low shout, his Dark Ice Domain multiplying in strength as he fell back. The slow in the Rapax's speed was just enough for him to slip out of the way. However, the Rapax was relentless.

It quickly stamped its originally kicking foot onto the ground, using the momentum to spin and lift its other leg into the air. It was baffling that a creature that had just displayed such poor posture could actually raise its legs up in a perfect split, prepared to ax kick Leonel's body into a bloody pulp.

Leonel's expression flickered. Aina was on his back and she would take a devastating blow even if he blocked this. But, with the speed and relentless pursuit of the Rapax, he wasn't even sure if there was another path to take.

'No, I can't let myself be pinned down,' Leonel thought as he fell backward, his gaze locked onto the falling ax kick. 'The moment I do and this thing attacks with its tail again, it's over.'

This was Leonel's first encounter with a non-human race—well, if he ignored the Oryx, beasts and Yuri. But, regardless, this was his first true battle with one. And, the difference was almost despairing.

This Rapax hadn't used any special techniques, it hadn't used its Ability Index or a Lineage Factor, it didn't even seem to be trying very hard. On top of that, Leonel was certain that as cruel as the Void Palace was, it wouldn't present an enemy that couldn't be defeated. Even if this enemy had appeared because Leonel had entered as a group of six, that would mean that the Void Palace was saying that six human geniuses was only worth one Rapax.

'Tell me the truth, old man. What Tier is this Rapax in?'

Despite the desperate situation, Leonel suddenly became frighteningly calm, his gaze placid as he watched the descending foot even as he, himself, fell backward.

'You see those spurs on its metallic tail?'

'Mm.'

'Upon entering the Fourth Dimension a Rapax will finally grow its tail. Upon entering the Fifth, its tail with gain a blade. For every Tier upward it goes within the Fifth Dimension, it will gain a pair of metallic spurs.'

Leonel's gaze narrowed. The Rapax had four spurs… It was in Tier 3 of the Fifth Dimension.

'I should also probably mention that this Rapax is Runeless. So, it's at most a mass produced foot soldier. This Rapax is the lowest common denominator of their race. You see how far the gap is yet?'

Leonel didn't say anything to this, his gaze only growing indifferent to the point its coldness returned. It was right then that a frightening crimson erupted from within his irises.

A fiendish grin spread across Leonel's face.

'A King losing to a foot soldier, huh?'

The tendrils of darkness to Leonel's back shot out grabbing onto two trees and pulling hard. Leonel's falling figure was whipped back like a rock out of a slingshot, his gaze only growing more fiendish.

"Let's do this, Alien."

The foggy darkness around Leonel grew several fold. In one instant, the forest seemed silent. In the next, an eruption of dark tendrils splintered off in all directions, connecting all the trees in the surroundings in a complex web of black strings.