Dimensional Descent

Leonel sat in a hall of the Void Senate in silence. Aina sat by his side, looking at the documents as well. Though, when she sensed Leonel's odd mood, she looked over as well. 

Leonel's gaze was a bit unfocused, but his pupils continued to flicker as though he was calculating something. 

The decision wasn't a simple one. Logically, there shouldn't be a problem with helping the Void Palace, but there were too many potential issues with doing so, especially since there were still signs of traitors in their midst. 

The only people he could trust aside from himself were Aina and his parents. 

The ask of the Void Palace was very reasonable. Wanting to document the treasures of that Zone made perfect sense, and they would also return it. In addition, wanting to know how Leonel had escaped also made sense. Who knew how useful such information could be in the future? If they could patent an ability to escape Zones, there would be many Zones that they didn't dare to easily enter previously that they could finally start exploring with full effort. 

For example, now that Earth had entered the Seventh Dimension, for the first time, the Human Domain had to contend with Eighth Dimensional Zones. But the number of characters who wielded such a level of power were far too few, and they were so important to the backbone of the Human Domain that they couldn't possibly enter to risk their lives so easily. 

The resulted in a situation where there were many Zones with potentially excellent resources inside that no one dared to make use of. 

But if these Zones were allowed to linger for too long, then the territory of Earth would end up swallowed and destroyed. If that happened, what was the worth of everything else? 

Earth had suddenly become integral to the prosperity of the Dimensional Verse, and it was very likely that everyone had been waiting precisely for Leonel to return so that they could understand how he did it. 

Leonel obviously understood all of this, but what would happen when he revealed that this was only possible because of the unique characteristics of the Segmented Cube? Unless someone could create a treasure of equivalent stature, it would be a fool's dream to attempt an escape from a Zone. 

In order to force the bubbles of the Human Domain and a Zone to connect, and thus expel all outsiders from within the latter, it required the travel of a spatial item between the two. Said spatial item had to have enough structural integrity to survive the journey as well, or else it would all be useless. 

Essentially, you needed a treasure on a level close to the Ninth Dimension, or at least at the very cutting edge of the Eighth. 

In this regard, the Segmented Cube was practically one of a kind. 

In the past, Leonel had simply assumed that every family in the Human Domain would have a treasure of this caliber. But the more he learned, the more he came to understand just how ridiculous such a thought was. In fact, he was certain that the existence of the Segmented Cube had a grand backstory Anastasia would probably refuse to tell him about…

And in such a case, where there only existed one solution, just what would happen? 

He had just learned that the Cloud Race was making efforts to infiltrate the Human Domain and impersonate their kind. And he had already deduced that there were likely traitors at the highest echelon of the Void Palace, or else certain things just could not have happened that way. 

If these individuals suddenly learned that there was only one item in the Human Domain capable of breaking the rules of the Zone, and said item was in the hands of a Morales family member… 

What kind of situation would that put the Morales family in? 

However, if Leonel lied about how he had done it, the moment they attempted to use his method and realized that it didn't work, not only would the Human Domain lose whoever had entered the Zone, he would also gain the ire of the Human Domain and things would end up terribly regardless. 

'If I had known Earth was already in the Seventh Dimension, I wouldn't have returned so easily…'

Leonel closed his eyes and sighed. 

Leonel suddenly felt a soft hand slip into his and he smiled lightly without opening his eyes. 

He had already known that there would be trouble like this when they returned, the only surprise was that it had actually come so quickly. But since he had already chosen Aina over the world, was there even a need to regret it? 

Leonel's heart shuddered and his thoughts flashed. 

When his eyes snapped open, they had a blazing light within them, but they quickly dimmed. 

'Even if I've thought of another method to escape Zones, it still doesn't change the facts of the matter…'

Leonel flipped a palm over and whispered, "[Valiant Seal]…"

A miniature trio of revolving pillars forms.

This was another one of Leonel's self-created techiques. He had formed it using the Valiant Pillars of Valiant Heart Mountain and Camelot's magic system as a foundation. That treasure was designed to take control of Zones. 

Theoretically, Leonel believed that if the power to control Zones was harnessed and then forced into vessels like the Segmented Cube, then it should be possible to use them like the Segmented Cube's world to escape Zones. 

If Leonel refined this method over a few weeks, he could easily hand this method over to the Void Palace and solve the potential issue of having the Morales family become everyone's target. 

But if he did so, this method would fall into the hands of the Human Domain's enemies as well. 

'The problem is still the same…' Leonel thought to himself, squeezing Aina's hand lightly. 

To think that he would be clever enough to think of such things, only to be faced with the dilemma of whether to share them or not. 

As Leonel was lost in thought, the clicking of heels echoed through the Void Senate's halls. When he looked up, he found a woman with vibrant green hair walking. He didn't think too much of it, until, that is, the woman's eyes emitted a coldness upon meeting his gaze.