Dimensional Descent

The Aurora Black Panda released a bellow, smashing its paws against its chest as though it wanted to let the world know that it was, indeed, the strongest.

Leonel instantly felt a wild energy entering his body. It was unbridled and unruly, surging toward his deepest foundations and shredding them apart to reform them.

The pain took deep roots within Leonel. He hadn't been conscious before, but this must have been something he went through previously. If it wasn't for his experience with his Metal Synergy Lineage Factor, such pain would have been enough to make him lose the will to go on entirely.

Leonel immediately used Dream Sense, splitting his sensory perception and easing the load on his nerves. However, this feeling of relief only lasted for an instant before it came back even stronger than before.

In the real world, Leonel involuntarily released a roar, his body cracking apart like he was carved of fragile glass.

Aina's expression changed. She wanted to do something, but she held back. There was already nothing more that she could do. If she interfered now, she might actually make things worse instead of better, especially since…

The dense fog in the surroundings wavered and her connection with Leonel severed. He couldn't seem to maintain it anymore.

Aina frowned. With a thought, another bottle of blood shattered and formed a down that enveloped Leonel. Others didn't need to see what was happening here.

After she was finished, she became several times more vigilant, even forming the dome of blood into a ball that directly picked Leonel up so that she could be ready to move at any time. She might have become much stronger, but it still wasn't anywhere near enough to be casual in this place.

She might be able to battle a Middle Fiend Class demon to a standstill if it was at her Tier, but high Fiend Class demons were beyond her, let alone a middle Fiend Class demon which was well beyond her in Tier. Right now, her top priority was Leonel's safety.

All sounds were immediately cut off, but Aina could still feel the fluctuations of Leonel's Life Force. They seemed to rise and fall rapidly and without a clear pattern, making it more and more difficult to tell exactly what was happening and only making her more worried.

She hadn't expected this to happen to Leonel. In fact, because the synergy had been so great, she had assumed that the fusion process would be very simple.

But Aina hadn't known about one very important thing…

Right this moment, Leonel's body had become a warring battlefield, a clash of titans butting heads and cashing against one another again and again.

However, the clash wasn't between Leonel's Starry Tailed Fox Lineage Factor and the incoming Aurora Black Panda Lineage Factor. Instead, it seemed to be against something entirely different, something intangible and almost unknowable.

A hidden crimson energy within Leonel's body lashed out, seemingly unsatisfied with something. The arrogance it exuded was almost palpable, whipping at and crushing bits and pieces of the Aurora Black Panda Lineage Factor as though it was disgusting by its presence.

It hammered away without a care for Leonel's wellbeing, pushing again and again and splintering it into bits and pieces.

These bits and pieces scrambled to survive, pushing out against Leonel's body and causing his skin to splinter and break, a rain of blood flooding out from his body.

However, it was then that something quite magical happened.

The Aurora Black Panda Lineage Factor began to find shelter in the depths of Leonel's Starry Tailed Fox Lineage Factor. The further it was broken down, the more the two ingratiated into one another. Although they were still separate, their union was far more cohesive and the large leaps Leonel's strength was taking only grew larger.

The crimson energy still looked down disdainfully, but when it wanted to lash out more, it found that there was nothing remaining to lash out against. And, for some reason or another, it didn't seem to have the same control over Leonel's Starry Tailed Fox Lineage Factor.

At that moment, Leonel's aura erupted in a valiant pillar of dark gold, shattering even Aina's blood sphere.

The image of a panda enveloped Leonel, but it looked completely different from what it should have been.

Its white fur was almost blinding, to the point where it was almost impossible to look at directly. At the same time, its once black fur had become a radiant dark gold that wafted a dark aura.

However, this was the most minor of the changes.

The panda had gained a third eye, one that was placed right upon its forehead. Very quickly, though, it became clear that this was just the first of seven total it would gain.

Somehow, the panda now had three heads, each one with three eyes of its own. At the same time, it had gained two more pairs of arms, giving it a total of six limbs not including its feet.

Its aura was incomparably majestic, its large belly and radiant dark gold body making it look like a buddha incarnate.

Just its presence alone made the space around it tremble. Those that laid eyes on it would feel the desire to prostrate themselves and commit themselves to a life of servitude.

Leonel, who was hovering within its illusory chest, still didn't seem to have realized what was going on around him, his eyes still closed.

However, what was astounding was that his Bronze Runes, which had been slowly thickening, now radiated a color far more dark gold than it was bronze. At the same time, his pale violet hair danced with a subtle light of its own, the crown on his forehead and the halo above his head trembling with a powerful majesty.

When Leonel's eyes opened, a beam of light split the space before him, a strong ripple of Spatial Force incomparably more powerful than his previous Force ripping it to shreds.

Leonel's gaze shifted, only to find that Aina was battling to keep him protected. She was holding her own, but when the sphere of blood had shattered, she had lost her mobility.

Leonel's brow furrowed. Another middle Fiend Class demon?

"Die."

The dark gold panda raised one of its size palms, slamming down with a mighty aura.

BANG!

The wind pressure of the strike alone, long before the palm hit the ground, shattered the Fiend Class demon into a bloody mist.