Dimensional Descent

BANG!

Aina flipped a palm and brought out her battle ax, allowing it to crash heavily to the ground. She stood valiantly behind it, her long, cascading black hair dancing in the wind.

They had just witnessed her clear the 50th floor. She should have been mentally fatigued even if she wasn't physically so. And yet, she seemed all too eager to battle once more. No, battle might very well not be the right word, she looked like she was eager to crush everything in her path.

Many watching couldn't help but feel their hearts flutter. Aina was truly too beautiful, the kind of beauty that could only be matched by the likes of Simona and the other beauties on the Queen Rankings. If it wasn't for the fact that Aina had vanished for over two decades, there was no doubt in their minds that she would have been one of the top Queens if not the top Queen by now.

Several gulps rang out in the crowd, their hearts beating wildly.

Aina's beauty wasn't a complete unknown, some had heard of her in the past. But whatever lust they had had could only be controlled due to Leonel's background. The fact that Aina and him were so close likely meant that she was an already acknowledged daughter-in-law of the Morales family.

Due to this halo, there were certain things that males most definitely could not do and only women could get away with. For example, Treanna's cruelty.

There were certain tacit understandings that had been accepted through the ages. Bottom lines like death, castration and rape were not allowed. Things that could harm the prestige or foundation of powerful families of the Human Domain were not allowed.

So for a beauty like Aina, they could only watch from afar, their hearts thrumming from within their chests.

Simona's frown deepened. She did want to fight Aina, and her impression of Leonel wasn't bad since he had indeed saved her back then, but this Aina clearly didn't understand the underlying rules the nobles of the Human Domain played by.

"… I cannot accept this kind of bet," Simona finally responded, her voice tinged with the usual hints of ice.

"Oh? Is that so? Unfortunate."

Aina seemed to be bored after hearing this response. With a flip of her palm, her battle ax vanished and she turned her attention back to Leonel.

By this point, both Leonel and the Spiritual Race youth were covered in wounds. Leonel's defenses were weak to precisely what the Spiritual Race youth was the most powerful in: Force, so it was no wonder he was in such a sorry state.

The ground beneat Leonel was suddenly split open and a vicious vine tunnel upward, piercing through his bottom jaw and up and out of his skull.

At that moment, Leonel's gaze flickered. In a real battle, he could use the moment his enemy thought he had died to launch a vicious counter attack. He could then use [Instant Recovery]. But at the moment, he had no choice but to allow himself to fade away.

'Fair play, I lose this time,' Leonel shook his head inwardly.

Leonel could only sigh. Even while wasting half of his strength protecting his precious tree, Leonel had still lost. Of course, it could be said that Leonel had held back at least half if not more of his strength as well by only competing in Force Manipulation, but Leonel was still disappointed.

However, it wasn't all bad. From beginning to end, Leonel had focused the entirety of his Ability Index on analyzing and teasing apart the intricacies of how the Spiritual used his Force. Once he consolidated his findings after another trip to the Void Library, his strength should take another massive leap forward.

…

Leonel's head cleared and he stepped out from the Void Tower, only to find hundreds of gazes locked onto him.

Leonel had never been a shy person so he only smiled lightly, his cheery grin making those in the surroundings feel like a spring breeze had just passed by.

"You lost."

Aina's voice snapped Leonel out of his glorious moment, causing him to cough.

"That Spiritual was a tough nut," Leonel said in his defense.

"I climbed higher than you," Aina said with a beaming smile.

"Is this your way of telling me you're stronger?"

Aina nodded seriously.

"Okay," Leonel laughed. "You can be stronger, but I'll still beat you ten times out of ten."

"Shameless boasting." Aina rolled her eyes.

"It's shameless to speak the truth now? How lamentable."

Aina shook her head and laughed. She could tell that Leonel had been serious the first time he said it, and he was also serious this time. But she was still serious in her own response too. She didn't think she would lose.

"Oh? Look at that defiant look in your eyes. It seems that I didn't teach you enough of a lesson last time."

Leonel's grin turned lewd, causing Aina's face to suddenly blush red.

"What are you saying?!" she whispered harshly. "Be louder, why don't you?!"

"Louder? IS THIS LOU—!"

Leonel received an elbow to the gut, sapping his body of all its air, before he could make it half-way through his shout. He could only cough through the pain while keeling over.

Those watching this scene suddenly felt the need to punch something. It's fine to flirt, we get it, you're in, but do you have to do it here?

"Anyone have a Lightning Force Crystal? I suddenly want to take a bath." 

Leonel and Aina laughed between the two of them as though no one was there. They didn't seem to sense the gazes of battle intent in the slightest.

"… It's unfortunate, she said she couldn't accept the bet. We'll have to find others," Aina said.

"Oh? Her? I suddenly remembered something."

Leonel flipped his palm over, causing a snowglobe to appear. Within it, a little purple puppy floated.

When Simona saw this scene, her body shivered uncontrollably from head to toe, her eyes reddening.