Dimensional Descent

Leonel lay on the ground, the pain coming in waves, but still much less than before.

His hand was practically just a mangled ball of flesh, his shoulder still hadn't been pushed back into his socket, and after the initial pain subsided, he finally noticed that he had shattered his kneecap when he was driven into the ground.

Luckily, it was only one shattered knee. But, that just left an entire side of his body practically useless.

And yet, right this moment, there seemed to be a battle?

Leonel's gaze squinted as he finally took in the surroundings.

The landscape was just as bland as everywhere else, albeit rockier than usual. The region looked like it was covered in sand dunes, but these dunes were just small hills of hard rock.

When Leonel's Internal Sight cleared, finally recovering from the beating the supposed rod-spear had given him, he frowned.

He had thought that they had somehow stumbled into enemy territory, but there weren't any enemies around at all. In fact, the ones fighting were Aina and the other geniuses… amongst themselves.

Leonel frowned, trying to stand, but he felt over before he could.

He actually felt so weak. To make matters worse, every time he moved, the rattling bone left in his hand and leg sent more sharp spikes of pain through him.

Still, this was good news for Leonel. If his bone had truly been grounded to powder, he might as well just chop it off now and find a different method to regrow it. But, if they were in shards like this, he had a chance of making a full recovery. Of course, it would require a lot more pain, but it would be a worthwhile exchange.

PENG!

Right then, a dagger landed right beside Leonel, missing him by a hair's breadth.

His brows furrowed. Just then, someone had aimed at him, but Aina's ax had deflected it from its path. Were they aiming after him?

Leonel's expression darkened.

This region should be in or very near human territory, that much Leonel was certain of. They were maybe a journey of a few hours away from the Void Palace at worst. This much was confirmed by the fact everyone's golden glows seemed to be back. Likewise, his purple glow was very much back as well.

'Seems I chose a terrible time to get injured. What happened here old man?'

'You collapsed, your little girlfriend ran to your side, but some saw this as a potential chance. Most have already left, using their Tokens to orient themselves toward the Void Palace. But, those that have stayed probably want your head.'

'How fantastic,' Leonel replied dryly.

Ungrateful didn't even begin to describe it.

His gaze scanned those that remained. There were five of them, all of which Aina was fighting alone. Leonel could tell that she was absolutely furious.

"Don't worry about me."

Leonel's voice called out.

Aina's ear twitched, but that seemed to be all she needed to hear. Her aura flourished and her hair whipped back.

Leonel watched silently and without much of a word. The individual of greatest note here was Rowan Cancer, the very same young man that had sneak attacked Leonel when he first put up his Amethyst Token for competition. It seemed that he was very much eager to lay his hands on one for whatever reason.

Aina's ax took one of their arms.

A limb flew through the air, taking a spurt of blood with it.

Aina reached a hand out, and almost immediately, a harsh scream followed.

"NO—!"

The young man was sucked dry, becoming a mummified corpse before the horrified gazes of his allies.

Rowan dashed forward, using the opening this created to attack Aina from the back.

Aina's palm flared outward, the large orb of blood she had just procured becoming as this as a sheet of paper and wrapping around to her back. Its speed was sublime, surpassing anything human legs at this level could possibly match.

CLANG!

Rowan was sent reeling backward and was soon faced with a wall of crimson spikes chasing after him as Aina actually chose to take a strong step forward, severing the heads of two more youths and adding to her bloody concoction.

Seeing that the situation was bad, Rowan's gaze flickered as he continued to retreat, looking toward Leonel. But, all he found in return was a gaze that was somehow both cold and dull. Despite the fact Leonel was just sitting there, clearly heavily injured, Rowan felt a cold chill crawl up his spine.

There was a large problem as well. Even if he killed Leonel, he would have to face Aina's wrath, and he wasn't willing to get entangled into such a battle right now.

Thinking to this point, he turned on his heels and sprinted away, his straight-line speed making him look like a black line racing across the rocky dunes.

Leonel didn't do anything as Rowan ran away, not that he could do much of anything. He was entirely focused on at least trying to get his right leg working. Unfortunately, he had already used his <Instantaneous Recovery>, and even though he could now use it once a day, it hadn't been 24 hours yet.

Plus, while it would work on his knee and shoulder, he was certain that it wouldn't work on his hand. After all, the Snowy Star Owl was a Sixth Dimensional creature while that rod was of the Life Grade. They weren't comparable at all.

Aina slaughtered the final two, her expression still fuming. While it softened a bit when she returned to Leonel's side, it was clear she was pissed.

Not only had Leonel been attacked after saving all of them, no one had even bothered to help out of gratitude. It was as though they were doing them a favor by not getting involved.

Leonel chuckled as he hopped up to one foot, unceremoniously leaning all of his weight on Aina and draping his uninjured arm over her shoulder.

"You're adorable when you're angry."

"Don't make me kick you away."

"Ow! Ow!"

Aina's head snapped toward Leonel, but when she realized he was pulling her leg, she pinched his hip, hard.

"Hey! I'm an injured patient here!"

"Then act like one!"

Aina supported Leonel's weight without the slightest issue and the two began to walk back toward the Human Domain, their banter becoming probably the only laughter in the whole of the Void Battlefield.