Dimensional Descent

Leonel flashed through the trees. He kept his Light Force restrained as much as possible. The atmosphere was a huge help to him, there was no reason for him to ruin it for himself.

In the past, he had hated the atmosphere of the Void Palace. But right now, the perpetual darkness, the heavy fog, and the restrained Internal Sight was a huge benefit to his stealth right this moment.

Instead of projecting it, Leonel allowed this new Light Force to circulate through his Nodes. It felt weird no longer having Snow Force within him. But, the unique Light Force of the Starry Tailed Fox was so far beyond it that he was sure he would get used to it very quickly.

Not only did this Light Force boost his speed for more than Snow Force ever did, its passive healing was unlike anything Leonel had ever experienced before, and it was also certain that its potency in battle was on a completely different level as well.

Leonel could see images of a majestic illusory fox with three long spiritual tails, sweeping out a claw that collapsed solar systems. The blades of light traveled through even space itself, tearing apart everything in its path.

This unique Light Force practically spoke its name into his mind… Ethereal Star Force.

In that moment, Leonel understood just what kind of weight this Force held. His Starry Spirit Domain, powered by Ethereal Star Force, made him immune to Internal Sight on his level. That meant that only someone with Seventh Dimensional Internal Sight, or Sixth Dimensional Internal Sight stronger than his own, could detect him.

Grasping this truth, Leonel became more confident in his scouting mission. Though this ability wasn't as strong as the Rapax's immunity, it wasn't far. So long as he stayed out of sight, he would be fine.

He understood now that Ethereal Star Force wasn't just a Light and Star Force mixture. It was also a Space Force mixture. It was just unfortunate that his Dimension was too weak to make use of its spatial properties just yet, but this much was enough for now.

Soon, the castle appeared before Leonel. As expected, he appeared as its further right edge where the scouting units were the thinnest.

He closed his eyes and unfurled his Internal Sight. Another benefit of the Wisdom Spirit Branch was that his Internal Sight had also become far more difficult to detect as well, so he didn't hold back in the slightest.

If he really ran into someone with stronger Internal Sight than his own, he would simply directly give up. Such an existence wasn't something that he and Aina would be able to beat. He would then use his loophole to avoid punishment.

The senses of the Dwarven Race seemed to be very good, something Leonel had experienced during both missions already. So, it wasn't absolutely impossible for him to run into such an individual.

Luckily, even after sweeping through the whole castle, Leonel didn't find such a person. However, his expression didn't relax in the slightest.

'This castle is far more elaborate. Even with my Internal Sight improving to hundreds of meters under the influence of Anarchic Force, I still can't see the whole layout. It's also far deeper underground than the last one was as well, and the traps—the ones I can detect, anyway—are also far more elaborate… I'll need to move to… three more locations to get the full scope.'

Leonel finished his calculations quickly, deducing how many more spots he needed to visit to get the full layout. Then, he moved.

In order to complete this mission, they need to crush the power structure of this base. That meant they needed to kill all eight generals, all four Dukes, and both the King and Queen.

Obviously, though, the situation was more complex than that since each of them was heavily protected.

From what Leonel saw, they wouldn't need to enter the castle to deal with the eight generals. But, the four Dukes and the King and Queen were all located within the castle.

The upper half of the castle was split into the north, south, east and west directions. These were controlled by the Dukes.

The underground layout was far more elaborate and far more protected. That region was the location of the King and Queen.

In Dwarven culture, darkness and being closer to the earth was seen as noble, something that was ironic considering they tended to fly in the air in battle. Either way, knowing this, it made sense why the King and Queen would be so far underground.

'It might be smarter to tackle the King and Queen first. Once they're dead, the Dukes will begin fighting over power, simultaneously splitting the generals as well.'

This was the conclusion Leonel came to after finishing his scouting. From a cursory glance, the North, South, East and West Duke had a bit of a rivalry going on. If he poked at this, he could benefit them.

From the very beginning, Leonel's approach was far different from others. Most took out the generals first, then the Dukes, before targeting the monarchy if they even got that far to begin with. But, Leonel hadn't even considered doing this for more than a moment. Like a madman, he chose to complete the hardest task first.

When he returned to Aina and explained his plans, she agreed immediately. When it came to such plans, she would always leave it up to Leonel. Her only issues arose when he didn't explain himself. But with things like this, she was fully onboard.

"Alright, give me some time. If we're going to do this, I can't go in without a bow."

"You should just steal one," Aina suggested.

"They're too small," Leonel shook his head, "After using a longbow, I can't imagine going back."

The White Lion bow was three meters tall, even his Bronze Grade black bow was that tall. But, the bows of the Dwarven Race were half that size often. He would have to carve his own.

But, how would he Craft without Little Tolly?

Leonel didn't regret using their Void Points on Aina's armor instead of a bow for him. Now, though, he needed to find a solution.

He exhaled a breath. It seemed he would have to improvise.

…

As Leonel and Aina were preparing for their raid, a small commotion had already begun to buzz in the Void Palace's Galaxy Region as Orinik's advertising began to spread like wildfire.