Dimensional Descent

The broad chest of the young man was completely exposed, rippling with strength and muscles that could have fit right in with the sheer cliff. His bottom half was covered in tight black legging that sunk into every crevice, peak and valley of his monstrous quads and the only other accessory on his body was a fur covered belt that seemed to double as a spatial device.

Unfortunately, this fashion choice but this overly large young man placed the outline of a set of family jewels and their crowning achievement on far too great a display. But, it was either this young man hadn't noticed the provocativeness of his style of dress, or he simply didn't care.

This young man was none other than the third individual Conon Lio had mentioned during his tirade, Armand of the Tarius family.

He, indeed, didn't care about this appearance, nor was he trying to be provocative. Much like Leonel, he was only concerned with being as comfortable as possible. If it was up to him, he would be completely naked as he walked about and interacted with the world. But, his father had berated him one too many times about such a thing, some nonsense about how they were already seen as brutish enough without him confirming stereotypes, so he could only compromise in this way.

Of course, the Patriarch of the Tarius family was still infuriated by his son's choices. But, at this point, it was already much too late to do anything about his disposition. What was done was done. At least his future daughter in law would see what she was working with before she married into their family.

Clearly, the father was just as brazen and brutish as the son or else he would have never had such a thought to begin with.

Armand's feet swung back and forth on the edge of platform, stretching and yawning from time to time. He seemed a bit disappointed with the view, but there wasn't much even he could do about the fog.

"Hm?"

Armand looked up and matched Leonel's gaze almost the instant the latter locked eyes with him. His head titled to the side, his muscles involuntarily rippling of their own accord. He didn't even notice Leonel's violet-gold cloak until several moments had passed.

"Oh?"

Everything about Armand just a moment before, if one disregarded his size, was entirely innocent. He swung his feet, he calmly observed his surroundings, and he looked like a bit of an air head one might want to protect. However, the moment he laid eyes on Leonel, his demeanor seemed to shift entirely.

His gaze didn't become cold nor did he release some fiendish or violent aura. Rather, his irises gained a glossy sort of look to them as his tilted head slowly straightened. His heartbeat slowed to a crawl, his skin slightly tensed and reddened, and everything around him seemed to grind to a halt as though Force itself was too scared to move.

Leonel's own gaze narrowed. This look… It reminded him of something.

His mind was sent into a dry prairie land with tall grasslands of brown and yellow. In the distance, a lion slowly stalked its prey, its reflective irises peeking through the strands of grass and fusing with the land.

There was no rage in its eyes, no anticipation, no killing intent. Its emotions were impossible to read, but even as your own legs quaked, even as your knees weakened and cold sweat poured down your back, it simply continued to slowly stalk forward, its four limbs gently gliding from one to another, its path connected to you by an invisible tether.

You probably knew that you should run, but you knew that you would be too slow. You thought that maybe you should fight, but you knew that you would be too weak. You might scramble and hope to distract it or give it a meal that was more enticing, but you could see that it only had eyes for your warm flesh.

That glassy look in Armand's eyes was no different. His twin axes, each with blades half the size of his enormous body, released a slight aura, a blackish sort of Force that made the temperature plummet.

Leonel could feel his blood run cold. It wasn't completely out of his control. The weakness of his Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor seemed to manifest in full force now, meeting a creature that stood so far above itself.

In that moment, Leonel's quiet observation warped, his brows furrowing and a deep pit of disgust deepening within his belly. He hadn't been in a rush to meditate upon the Bronze Tablet to improve his Lineage Factor before, mostly because he simply hadn't had the time yet. By the time he had recovered enough to train, they had already delayed the Void Palace enough and had to leave. But, this feeling almost made him want to vomit.

Right then, a burning sensation raced through Leonel's veins. A strong Force threatened to incinerate his blood to ash.

Aina frowned, looking toward Leonel. She could tell that something was off but she wasn't a mind reader. It was difficult to pinpoint exactly what the problem was.

Leonel closed his eyes, taking deep breaths. He forcefully suppressed the feeling. He would just end up harming himself if he acted on impulse. But, he had already decided, he would definitely purge himself of this Lineage Factor.

That said… He would first use this so-called 'weak' Lineage Factor to put Armand in his place. He had been thoroughly provoked.

Armand had no way of reading Leonel's thoughts. All he felt was a weak creature cowering away. He lost any interest he had had. At this point, he felt the only thing interesting about Leonel was his Amethyst Token. He would definitely be leaving here with it in his hands.

At that moment, the platforms rumbled, beams of light suddenly jetting out and connecting them all. In those final moments, what was presumably the last platform had appeared to trigger all of this, and it was unsurprisingly Simona who had managed to make it back.

"You only have one task, survive and make it back to safety."

The rumbling voice of a woman cast over them all. And then, they all disappeared.

This year would, indeed, be different. Up until now, nothing too out of the norm had occurred. But now… the true dark nature of what it meant to be a protector of humanity would show.