Dimensional Descent

A silence fell over the group as the report settled in. 

They were first and foremost an information network; it could be said that they were definitely among the very first to get this information; And yet; rather than information trickling in one at a time; they actually got it all at once; they didn't even get any information about any armies setting in; 

"What the hell happened?!"

Tiny stood to his feet, his shock making his heart palpitate; This was the kind of information they should have gotten even before it happened; How could a force hide from them for so long? It made their hearts run cold; 

Raylion. who had been completely silent all the while. suddenly narrowed his eyes; But at the moment. his gaze was actually focused on Tiny. not the messenger; It was hard to tell what was going on in his mind. his expression just as cold and indifferent as usual; 

At the same time. Aphestus. who had likewise been silent. slowly released his grip on the dagger by his side; Tiny seemed to have no idea just how close Aphestus was from exploding. it could even be said that the messenger stopped things from getting overblown; 

"There… There…" The attendant took heaving breaths. trying to calm themselves; In order to get this information here. they had really gone all out; "… There was little information about the first three. but according to our informants near Earth. a Prince Leonel of the Ascension Empire appeared with a flagship of Shield Cross Stars and wiped them out single handedly;"

At this point, even Raylion's expression changed somewhat. 

Was this a coincidence? Prince Leonel? 

Suddenly, things slid into place one by one; 

The Leonel they knew was an Heir of the Morales family. but if he was also a Prince of the Ascension Empire. things would make much more sense; In fact. had they known this beforehand. a lot of the trouble their organization had gone through would have never festered to begin with; 

The Morales were simply too far away from their location. and because Raylion wanted to focus their attention on Earth's Empire. the information they had on the outside was limited; As such. the prestige the Morales had in the hearts of their members was far too low for what they were; 

In comparison. the prestige of the four families and the Ascension Empire. in addition to certain other families and faiths. were much higher. 

They had known that Leonel was from Earth. but they hadn't known what kind of status he had on Earth; If they were aware. maybe things would have never devolved to this state; 

"Prince Leonel?"

Tiny and the other three who weren't very familiar with Leonel to begin with didn't immediately make the connection; The Human Domain was too vast, how could some people not share names? Plus, the Leonel Emna and the others were referring to had the Morales last name, not Fawkes which they associated with the Imperial Family;

However, they froze when the attendant confirmed. 

"Yes, a Prince Leonel Morales; He is the son of Princess Alienor Morales; There is news from the wider Human Domain that the reason for the sudden activity of the underground networks of Shield Cross Stars is because Princess Alienor was infuriated by SCS labeling her son as a Tier 1 Fugitive!"

Tiny forgot to breathe, his head slowly turning toward Emna and the others; Was this attendant trying to say that the Tier 1 Sixth Dimensional existence he had just been lambasting wiped out four families their organization had no method to take head on? 

Aphestus suddenly laughed; "That bastard is just as annoying as I remember; He pretends to be such a good person, and then he turns around and wipes out four families; It was his fault Valiant Heart Mountain fell so quickly too, but he just patted his ass and shrugged at that too;"

Raylion's gaze flickered as Sael's own danced with a complicated expression. Aphestus wasn't wrong. For a long time, Sael felt guilty because it was she who invited Leonel to Valiant Heart Mountain to begin with. If not for what happened back then, they could have survived a few more centuries at least, they could have even used Earth's evolution as a method of turning their fate around, after all, they had been in Earth's quadrant to begin with so they would have been the first to benefit. 

But in the end, things hadn't worked out that way. 

Emna was the most shocked among them all because she knew exactly what had caused this, she could still remember Leonel's rage when she informed him of what happened to his brothers, she even remembered hoping that he didn't do anything stupid. 

To think that he would get his revenge in just a few days, so quickly that even they were late to react… 

It took a while, but Tiny, Robin, and the other two finally calmed, looking toward one another. Tiny eventually took a seat as well, his expression flickering intermittently. He couldn't seem to decide what he should be thinking. 

Emna looked up, her own gaze cold. 

"Do you have anything else to say now, Tiny?"

Tiny took a breath and exhaled, but before he could respond, it was actually Treasurer Jemsy who answered first. 

"Do you all think that this concludes things?" He suddenly said. 

Jemsy wasn't one to speak often, his eyes were usually glazed behind he pair of glasses. It seemed as though he was always calculating something, as though the outside world was of no interest whatsoever. However, the moment he did speak, everyone looked toward him. 

"He is already a Tier 1 Fugitive, and now he's used Shield Cross Stars weaponry to wipe out not just one, but four families of Earth. If his only identity was that of a Prince of the Ascension Empire, things would be fine. However, his last name is Morales, not Fawkes. I'm sure if you all take a moment to think about it, you'll see what the problem is.

"Suddenly, due to his actions, competition over Earth's main resources have all been eradicated. It won't just be Shield Cross Stars that's unhappy about this."

"Interesting analysis."

The sudden voice came from nowhere. This time, it wasn't just Tiny who stood to his feet, wary gazes looking toward the entrance.