Dimensional Descent

It could be said that the Pyius family was simply unlucky to have run into Leonel and Aina of all people. If there were any two that could be considered perfect counters to their strongest points, it was most definitely this pair.

The Pyius family used a special Force known as Pyius Force which was known for its poisonous and corrosive attributes. Any member of this family would have spent most of their time learning how to master and control this Force due to the danger that it presented not to just to everyone around them, but namely even they themselves.

As a result of this, the younger the Pyius family member was, the more likely it was that the main tenet of their battle prowess would be their usage of Pyius Force.

Under normal circumstances, this was still enough for them to display strength beyond the imaginations of most. Pyius Force was capable of many things. It could corrode Force, its thickness could push Force it couldn't corrode away, forming a Domain where the only Force that could exist in a region was itself, it could infect a target, weakening their senses and slowing their reflexes… The list felt endless and even this much was just the tip of the iceberg. If a wielder of this Force wanted, they could even attack one's Internal Sight, corroding the mind and soul after a certain point!

With the support of such a powerful Force, the strength of its wielder would be undeniable. However, without it, Simona had lost as much as 90% of her true combat prowess.

Unfortunately for her, Leonel's passive Destruction Cloak, a name he had decided to give his current state, destroyed practically everything in its path. Scarlet Star Force was an innately higher form of Force than Pyius Force and, as a result, had no a single problem suppressing it.

On the other end, Aina was immune to poisons thanks to her ability. Her self-healing was on a level far beyond the Healing Factor given to Leonel by his Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor. In her current state, even if Aina wanted to regrow an arm, she could do so. This was how far her Ability Index had progressed.

Aina retracted her ax even as another geyser rose into the air. Four more streams of gold entered her body and the resplendent light that coated her rose to an all new level. It seemed like it was right on the verge of evolving to a new tier. Maybe only one or two more Golden Tokens would be necessary for Aina to earn an Amethyst Token, then.

Leonel smiled. "Alright, let's go."

He leapt toward a new platform, Aina following close behind. A dull silence was left in their wake.

Simona didn't move for a long while. She knew why it was she had lost, but that didn't mean she accepted it. She wasn't the type of person to make excuses. There were many races on the Void Battlefield that had methods of immunizing themselves against her poison. It was her job to surpass these limitations and rise above it.

Her guardians had long since told her that she had reached the threshold of mastery in Pyius Force to move on to improving her battle prowess in other ways. However, Simona had been stubborn. She didn't just want to meet a minimum threshold, she wanted to be like her Ancestors and bestow the family with an evolution, a step beyond what they had now.

Due to this, despite the fact she could have begun to train up herself in other ways, she remained entirely focused on Pyius Force.

Of course, when she met those that couldn't counter her, she was unstoppable, being a genius no weaker than any of the top echelon of this generation. However, when she ran into someone like Aina… she felt like nothing more than canon fodder.

Simona slowly rose to her feet, not bothering to wipe the blood that trickled down her lovely violet painted lips. The dot of crimson was especially striking upon her pale features and her expression gave way to no emotion.

She strolled forward, whip in one hand, sword in the other. A murderous aura surrounded her.

She was going Golden Token hunting. One day, she would pay back this defeat.

…

"Huh?"

"It's a good chance." Was Aina's only response.

Leonel was speechless. They had only just left their battle with Simona when Aina said that this was a good opportunity for Leonel to recruit her. Leonel almost felt like he someone was pulling a prank on him and he'd unearth some hidden cameras in a few seconds. But, when Aina confirmed that she was serious, he really had no idea what to say.

"Why do you think I fought her instead of letting you do it?"

Leonel raised an eyebrow. Wasn't that because she was a woman? She had said so herself.

"The fact she was a woman is part of the reason, yes. But, I could also tell that she used poisons. It was obvious from the very beginning that we'd be able to defeat her easily, I have a certain sensitivity to that sort of stuff."

"And because she's easy to defeat…?"

"Because she'd be easy to defeat despite being such a great talent, in the event that she did lose, the resentment she held would be toward whoever defeated her, meaning me.

"She'll train, improve herself, and likely challenge me again. But, she will still lose. When this happens continuously, and yet she realizes that I follow you, she'll birth an innate respect for you that exists outside of whatever resentment she has for me. In fact, after losing to me continuously, she might even try to find a different method of defeating me that just might include being more useful to you than I can be."

Leonel's expression flickered. When'd this woman become so scheming? It didn't really seem like her at all. But, soon, Leonel would come to understand where this came from.

"She seems like a person far too prideful to take that sort of path, though."

"You don't understand." Aina shook her head. "The pride of a man is different from the pride of a woman. They don't manifest in the same ways.

"Plus, there are certain things that only I can do for you. Recruiting talented women is one of those things. Your status is special. If you go around recruiting women as the future Heir of the Morales family, people will misunderstand. That's why these sort of tactics are better."

"…"

Why did it sound like she was just keeping tabs on the women around him?

Leonel was about to respond when he frowned. 'Already?'

He could see it up ahead. The center of the lake was already in view and many groups had already surrounded it.