Dimensional Descent

[These chapters will probably be even more poorly edited than usual. sorry about that]

Leonel reached a hand out, causing Simeon to rush toward the hand of his panda construct; The latter didn't even have the mental fortitude to fight back; Leonel's Emperor's Gaze seemed to have formed a domain, suffocating him to the depths of his heart; 

Simeon found his head being pinched between the panda construct's thumb and finger, the rest of his body being enveloped almost whole; He looked like nothing more than an ant, seemingly having forgotten that he had Seventh Dimensional strength; His mind had completely collapsed, he didn't even have thoughts of resisting; 

Leonel didn't say a single word; Every time the tragic cry of a Brazinger family sound, it was followed by a heroic laughter; The dichotomy was piercing; Even for the people of Earth who were protected by Leonel's actions felt their hearts going cold; 

Simeon hung like a dead fish, his body paralyzed by fear; His mind was like a blank screen and he had not a single coherent thought; 

At that moment; a flickering flame appeared at Simeon's feet; At first; he only felt a small bit of heat that was just barely manageable; But as it rose; the heat turn to a searing pain; and the searing pain turned into a blood curdling shock; 

Simeon screamed; his body suddenly remembering that he could move once again; However; before he could shatter the panda construct; the Adurna valiant warriors appeared around him all at once; They struck out their palms; causing barriers of blue silver to concentrate and form a second skin around Simeon; However; rather than protecting the latter; it not only kept him in place; it made the torture that much more terrible; 

Slowly; the blue-silver barrier began to heat up and boil; Simeon; who was encased within it began to release shrill screeches; His blood was boiling from the inside out; his skin was being slowly charred; and his feet were the first to go; crumbling to ash; 

Simeon's gaze turned completely crimson. the last strands of his sanity activating his Lineage Factor in the final moments; Pushed beyond the edge. he finally somewhat broke free of Leonel's mental coercion. but by now. it was already too late; 

A second group of Adurna family valiant warriors stepped forward, stretching out their palms and locking Simeon down with more Force barriers; 

All the while. Leonel stood the closest. unaffected by the flames. unaffected by the screams. unaffected by the dense darkness that seemed to almost solidify in the air; It was as though he wanted to look Simeon in the eye as he was slowly pressed toward his death. he wanted to see every fiber of pain and horror in him;

He stared death down, he looked into the abyss and he didn't blink a single time; 

At that moment, from the distance, a trio of young men rushed forward; But when they saw the scene everyone else had, they were stunned into silence; However, this sort of scene hit them far harder than anyone else, so hard that their eyes turned red, tears glistening; 

They clenched their fists to the point blood ran through their fingers, their jaws steeling to the point their teeth rattled; It felt to them as though they were watching the death of another brother, and it was only happening because they were far too weak; 

If they had been stronger back then, they would have never lost them. If they had been stronger back then, none of this would be happening. If they had been stronger back then, they wouldn't have to rely on Leonel in the end once again. 

"Please! Stop!"

Simeon's voice had turned entirely hoarse. It sounded like gravel, falling two octaves completely out of his control, but Leonel didn't seem to have heard him at all, just staring at him without a word. In fact, Leonel didn't even seem to be focused on exactly what was happening, he looked right through Simeon. 

Tears streamed down Simeon's face, however his body had become so dry that they evaporated in a single instant, only to be replaced by streams of blood. His lips split and cracked, his skin becoming an unhealthy leathery brown color. 

"I have—I have information—Please!"

Leonel still didn't seem to hear anything. 

Simeon tried several more times, saying anything he could. By this point the greatest regret in his life was entering the Seventh Dimension. By now, the flames had burned his legs to ash, leaving nothing but his hips and everything above. If he had been in the Sixth Dimension, he would have long since died, he wouldn't have to suffer such horrible punishment. 

The second greatest regret of his life was daring to target this madman. Why couldn't he be content with his losses. He hadn't even been the one to personally kill Leonel's brothers, and yet he had put himself right in the crossfire all because of a minor grudge. 

Simeon's throat swelled shut, the smoke of his own flesh choking out his lungs and his screams had torn his vocal cords apart. He couldn't even breathe, his nerves felt fried, and yet somehow, it only made the pain all the more clear. 

In the end, he released what might have been a laugh, but instead of sounding as such, it was far more like a string of hiccups and spine tingling coughs. He wiggled about with what small bits of strength he had left. 

His eyes had swollen shut, his wounds alternating between splitting open and sealing shut one more under the oppressive heat. Even so, he laughed a maddening laugh. He had entirely lost his mind, his noises sounding like the raspy call of the reaper. 

"You'll die… you'll die a terrible death… you and everyone else… you'll lose even more… hahaha!"

The vitality of Simeon was truly on a completely different level. Just a blade through the throat had killed the big bellied man just days ago, and yet now Simeon was nothing more than a collarbone and a head, and yet he still cackled like a madman. 

Even so, Leonel continued to stare into the abyss, completely unmoved. 

In this world, there was no longer anything that would make his steps pause..