Dimensional Descent

Leonel and his brothers slowly walked into the meeting room; Leonel himself at the helm; They seemed to appear from nowhere; and they hadn't even alerted anyone until they spoke; Toward this; even Emna was surprised; She had told Leonel how to find them; but she hadn't expected him to enter the depths of their territory without anyone even noticing; 

The attendant was deathly pale; The moment Leonel stopped hiding his presence, the pressure was suffocating; Even Jemsy, who always maintained his calm, felt his throat constrict; 

Suddenly, the pressure vanished as Leonel grinned; 

"Long time no see." Leonel laughed as he looked toward Aphestus. Raylion and Sael. 

It couldn't be said that he had a deep relationship with all three of them, but he had good impressions of Sael although she was a bit naïve; At the same time, he quite respected Raylion; As for Aphestus, he respected him as well if for nothing other than his loyalty to Raylion; 

Suddenly. Leonel felt a vicious wind assault him; Even as it pierced toward his throat. an afterimage of Aphestus slowly dissipated into the wind. a malicious intent swallowing him up whole; 

SHIIING! SHIIING! CLANG! BOOM! 

Wild winds spread in all directions. strong Blade Forces lashing out against the walls of the meeting room and leaving deep grooves everywhere they passed. 

Leonel's clothing fluttered, his fingers raised in a pinching motion; Between them, a blade was stopped mere inches from his neck, an amused light in his eye; 

Aphestus' forearm bulged with wiggling veins that pulsed like flood dragons; His face went red beneath the strain. but he couldn't move forward even a single inch; 

"What's this. Aphestus? You aren't happy to see me? How's your diet been. why're you so weak?"

Aphestus' lip twitched before he snorted and pulled back his blade. hiding his trembling wrist to his back; He was already in Tier 9 of the Sixth Dimension. but his all out attack had actually been stopped by two fingers; While he hadn't used his Ability Index. that was still at least 50% of his strength in that single assault; The fact Leonel had stopped it so casually went to show the sheer gap between them; 

"My diet?" Aphestus snorted; "I went easy on you, consider this a welcome gift;"

Leonel laughed. 

He remembered Aphestus' Ability Index quite well; He could gain the characteristics of what he ate. the trouble was that the more talent he wanted to extract. and the more talented his target. the more of it he needed; 

For someone like Aphestus. especially since he left the evolution of the tentacle womb up to Anastasia. he probably had the highest ceiling of anyone here outside of Emna who was only a measure away from forging her own path; All Leonel had to do was feed him a large number of demon corpses; 

"Hm?" Leonel looked toward Sael and blinked; "Maybe not…"

Leonel hadn't expected that Emna wouldn't be the only one who was a real Spark here, to think that Sael would be a real spark too; It was quite ironic, the original strongest amongst them, Raylion, actually seemed to have the least potential now; However, when Leonel looked into Raylion's eyes, he could see the very same fire he had seen back then; 

'He might not have gotten the same opportunities as the rest of them, but his heart is still firm. That is more than worthy of praise.'

Leonel nodded toward Raylion lightly. For a man like this, he didn't need to say anything more. Raylion didn't need thanks, the only acknowledgement he needed were the fruits of his labor blooming, and Leonel would make certain that that happened. 

After Leonel greeted the four heads he was familiar with one by one, he finally turned his attention toward the remaining four. They were all looking toward him with gazes ranging from wary to somewhat curious. 

"I don't have much time to stay here today because there are still three major incidents that I was delayed from handling, but I can say that this man here isn't wrong, there will indeed be trouble for my actions, but the real question is how much it matters to you.

"Before you, there are two options. One is obedience, the other is death. There is no third option. Which will you choose?"

Leonel's smile vanished, his oppressive aura returning. The four suddenly felt small. Their Force was sluggish and their breathing labored. 

Suddenly, they realized that Leonel wasn't alone. 

The aura of eight Seventh Dimensional powerhouses flooded the room and their eyes opened wide. It was only at that moment that Emna realized that five men that should have been dead were standing before her safe and sound. 

Treasurer Jemsy took deep breaths, trying to calm himself. 

"You are… very strong, but have you truly thought about this? This will no longer be a matter of just Shield Cross Stars, your actions are an opportunity for almost every family of the Human Domain to stick their noses into the matters of Earth."

"I don't need you to explain these things to me. If you can think of it, I thought of it a hundred times faster. You may be used to being the smartest person in the room, but I can tell you now that your greatest pride is useless before me. 

"I won't repeat myself again. Make your choice," Leonel said coldly. 

"Haha…" Treasurer Jemsy chuckled. "… Do I really have a choice at all? I don't want to die."

"Good," Leonel said indifferently. 

At that moment, a mighty golden light raised up behind him, a radiant scroll unfurling. 

Leonel's gaze glowed with a fierce light and he pierced out his finger four times in a row. 

The four heads shuddered. Although they couldn't see it, in each of their Ethereal Glabellas, they had all gained an Imperial Edict. So long as they dared to disobey it, they Ethereal Glabellas would self-destruct. 

This ability was a fusion of Emperor's Gaze and Emperor's Edict known as Emperor's Mark. Leonel had deduced it on his own without the Emperor's Might Tablet because his comprehension of its two halves were absolutely perfect, this would also make certain things far more convenient for him. 

"Now, like I said, I don't have much time. The three most pressing issues are the Zoltene Faith, the Thrusting Skies Sector and the reemergence of the Viola Family, I need information about these three as things don't seem so simple."