Dimensional Descent

Leonel grilled meat in one hand and seasoned it with the other. His Radiant Force and Scarlet Star Force might have been powerful Fire Forces, but they were no good at cooking. One was radioactive and the other was intent on destroying everything in its path. So, for something like this, Leonel could only use regular Fire Force.

But, it was more difficult than he thought it would be. Leonel had never really struggled with pulling atmospheric Force toward himself until he stepped foot into the Void Palace. By then, the Anarchic Force was so dense that using atmospheric Force was mostly a pipe dream. This was a large part of why Leonel had still rarely used his Scarlet Star Force even after awakening the ability to pull it toward him on a whim.

Leonel had thought that he wouldn't need to worry about it anymore while he was in this place since there was no Anarchic Force. But, just like with all the other oddities, he still struggled.

Back when he was practically dying of thirst, he had to approach a river to find dense enough Water Force to satiate himself. Usually, he would be able to call upon Water Force whenever he wanted now, thanks to his Divine Armor. But if he did that here, he would be lucky to form a single drop.

This matter stretched to other things as well. For example, Leonel concluded that the reason his arrows hadn't been devastating was that he had shot from too far away.

Previously, shooting from 500 meters away, so long as Anarchic Force wasn't present, was as easy as breathing. But, in this place, his Bow Force actually weakened so much over this distance. Now, his previous 500 meter range was about equivalent to his current 100 to 75 meter range. He would definitely have to adjust.

Unfortunately, the problems just kept coming. After a day and a half, Leonel had still not spotted the city.

His first thought was that the old man had lied to him, but Leonel frowned at such a possibility. He was very good at reading people. Even though he couldn't be considered to be a lie detector, he still didn't believe that Farlee would have even dared to lie to him in the first place.

'Is it possible…?'

A thought flashed in Leonel's eyes. He didn't consider for a moment that he had deviated from the right path, his sense of direction was too solid. He did consider the possibility that the old man's sense of direction wouldn't be as strong as his own. Plus, if the city was just a little bit off the cardinal direction the old man had stated, Leonel could end up way off.

Still… Leonel thought that it was likely the hidden third open. And, over three more days after the initial day and a half estimate, he finally saw it looming ahead.

As expected, the estimates for speed the old man had given were based on what he thought of Leonel, a realization that made the latter especially serious.

Obviously, Leonel hadn't gone all out during the past several days and even took a lot of time to check around for clues and signs of human life, just in case he had veered off course. However, for Farlee to underestimate his speed by three times…

Just how strong were these noblemen? And what would Leonel do now that he was here?

Up ahead, an enormous city loomed. It was like a steel behemoth, its walls flashing with silvery lights and only the tallest buildings within being barely visible from Leonel's vantage point.

However, very quickly, Leonel realized that the city was much further away than he thought it was. It was just that the city was so large that it had taken a moment for his perception to adjust. When he calculated how large it must be, his brows couldn't help but shoot up.

Leonel entered stealth mode, becoming even more focused than he had been before. If Farlee could see through him before, it was clear that his previous attempts hadn't been nearly good enough. Of course, Leonel had gotten complacent after three days as well, not to mention the fact that he had been hungry.

But now, he was in top shape.

Leonel didn't understand enough about this situation to enter the city so freely. He had to observe a bit first.

As Leonel got closer, he realized he was still several dozen kilometers away. This wouldn't normally be an issue with his speed, but the main problem was that the number of beasts seemed to increase rather than lessen. At the same time, the Force in the air seemed to also thicken.

When Leonel finally managed to enter a kilometer range, his eyes couldn't help but widen.

The entire city… no, it was only accurate to say that the portions of the city that Leonel could see were surrounded by an abyss!

Chains connected the open city gates. Just from Leonel's point of view, there were three. Each chain link was tens of meters across and their thickness didn't need to be mentioned.

Those that wanted to enter the city crossed these "paths", risking what seemed like life and limb just for a chance. And, from what it seemed, there were even some that were turned away at the entrance and forced to go back!

Leonel watched as several fell to their deaths. Some had even been close but were assaulted by an unlucky rush of powerful wind.

'What… kind of city is this?'

Leonel was at a loss. Was it worth risking life and death to enter?

There were some that didn't seem to need to risk as much to enter. These individuals procured the help of large snake beasts that coiled their bodies around the chains to slither forward, swaying along with the chains. From what Leonel had seen, not a single ground escorted by one of these snakes had died.

However, it seemed to be very expensive to gain such a service. In addition, it was mostly a route taken by individuals who seemed to be merchants? Leonel wouldn't be surprised if they gained a large discount for their efforts.

Just as Leonel was thinking about whether or not the risk would be worth it, he froze.

Right then, a merchant carriage rolled to the edge of the abyss. Unlike the other carriages, this one pulled along a cage on wheels.

What made Leonel freeze was that within these cages, beaten and ragged, were Noah and Myghell.

Leonel's gaze flickered with rage.