Dimensional Descent

Rychard only paused for a moment before he continued to sit down, turning his attention toward Leonel. From his vantage point, he looked down at the group without the slightest hint of discomfort on his face. 

The last time Leonel had seen Rychard, he was already well into his 70's, but he still looked like a young man. Of course, the current Rychard didn't look old, he looked to be in his late 20s to early 30s, still shy of middle aged, but given his previous Dimension, it should have taken at least another several decades before he reached this point. Leonel found this change to be very interesting. 

"Why have you come to my Viola family today?" Rychard asked faintly. 

"I think you know quite well." Leonel replied. 

"If I was aware, I would not play games with esteemed Imperial Prince. We are within your territory, after all."

"Oh? In that case I came to kill you for those rumors you spread about my mother."

The moment Leonel's words echoed, the several ministers in the court all stood at once, their auras flaring. Despite the youth of the vast majority of them, even the weakest had powerful auras within the Sixth Dimension. In fact, the pressure they exuded wasn't small, and there were even a number of them already in the Seventh Dimension. 

Leonel's gaze flashed when he sensed this. Indeed, the Viola family of today wasn't the Viola family of the past.

This had to be as a result of the Viola family's World Spirit. 

Originally, the World Spirit for this region had been separated into three pieces, one for the Viola family, one for the Luxnix family, and the last for the Montex. The Luxnix family should have taken the destruction of the Viola famiy to snatch their piece for themselves, but it seemed that this hadn't happened. 

From what Leonel had learned, those who had World Spirits gained quite the advantage within the Zone, allowing them to display their strength while others didn't gain this luxury. Whatever it was that Rychard had experienced, it was enough for him to turn his situation around. 

Despite Leonel's blatant threat, Rychard raised a hand and forced his ministers to sit. It was clear that compared to Leonel, the place Rychard had in the hearts of these individuals was far higher. Earth's influence was already waning here, and yet it was their Sector. 

It could be said that just from this display, Earth had quite a number of issues to deal with. If they didn't even have strong control over their own Sector, then there was simply no chance for everything else. 

"You must be joking, Imperial Prince. I thought that this matter was handled long ago, was it not the Imperial Princess herself who pardoned me?" Rychard replied indifferently. 

"Pardoned? It was more so that she allowed you to live due to what usefulness you could have to me, but I haven't seen your use yet? In fact, if not for me, would you even be here to sit on your lofty throne?"

At that moment, Leonel's smiling expression suddenly vanished and the ground beneath him trembled. 

"You take yourself too seriously, don't you think?!"

Leonel's voice boomed, the ground suddenly quaking and shattering. The stairs that elevated Rychard's throne suddenly crumbled, compressing into the ground. 

In the blink of an eye, Rychard had gone from sitting on a lofty throne to being seated within a pit that left him a full head shorter than Leonel. At this point, it was he who had no choice but to look up. No one could even react to the change at all, but by the time the rumbling completed and the Force dispersed, the deed was done. 

Rychard sat in the pit with a narrowed gaze. Leonel's explosiveness had caught even him off guard. It was only now he realized just how unpredictable Leonel could be. He was entirely unreadable. 

Originally, he thought like the Impreza of the Zoltene Faith. His assumption was that Leonel had things to worry about and couldn't be too out of hand with his reaction. But now, he suddenly wasn't so sure anymore. 

Before Rychard held any power in his hand, he had always been cunning and scheming. His intelligence was exceptional, if not for this, he wouldn't have been able to cause the resurrection of the Viola family so quickly. But there were some things that intelligence couldn't overcome, this was something he had learned the hard way the first time, and he wouldn't make the same mistake again. 

Rychard slowly rose to his feet, stepping out of the pit. 

He had always been shorter than Leonel, so even now, he was still about a head shorter. But even so, he felt far better and more unrestrained on his feet. 

"If Imperial Prince believes that I am the same man I was in the past, you would be sorely mistaken. My Viola family is guilty of nothing other than fighting for territory, the only difference is that we are better than others. 

"In the past, my Viola family was destroyed, this was because we were inferior to others, I have no complaints. But now that we have risen from the ashes, soaring into the skies like true phoenixes, we won't allow others to press us down once again. 

"Our dignity will not be trampled upon."

Rychard's voice boomed and the blood of the Viola family members boiled. They stood to their feet once again, but this time, Rychard didn't ask them to sit. It was clear that they were prepared to fight any moment now. If Leonel truly didn't back down, they would even dare to kill an Imperial Prince of the Empire. 

Leonel's serious expression suddenly gave way to a laugh. 

"I left for a couple decades and I returned to find that everyone has gotten so much more arrogant. Even enemies I've already trampled once before are scurrying up again. What do your words count for?

"This isn't Viola territory, this is the Ascension Empire. Fight for territory? What right do you have to do that? Even if I told you to give up this planet right now, you would have to obediently do so."

Leonel's pupils suddenly constricted. Before he could react, Rychard's fist had already appeared before his eyes. It was simply too late to react. 

BANG!

Leonel's head exploded into a rain of blood, bone and gore, his final words still echoing. 

"Kill them all," Rychard said indifferently.