Dimensional Descent

King Oryx looked toward Leonel deeply.

Elthor's lips pressed into a line as he looked back and forth between his father and Leonel. The two didn't seem to have any hatred for one another, but their perspectives were simply different.

King Oryx was more than willing to give up his kingdom to his son, after all, Elthor was his own flesh and blood. Ultimately, the Oryx were a minority race deep within human territory, it was simply too difficult to entrust their future in the hands of someone who just might abandon them at any time.

As for Leonel, he had invested in the Oryx in more than one way. For one, he had resurrected Elthor first, and then his father, when he hardly knew either one of them at the time. Back then, it hadn't seemed like a big deal, but now that he had to purge the Silver Tablet for the sake of saving his brothers, it meant that Leonel had chosen the Oryx over the lives of men and women he had fought shoulder to shoulder with.

When things were put into perspective like this, King Oryx's hesitancy was nothing short of a slap to Leonel's face. With Leonel's temper, if it hadn't been for the fact that he had a good relationship with Elthor, he would have already taught King Oryx a severe lesson.

Leonel wasn't the type of person to hesitate when he made a decision, so it seemed as though he had been incredibly decisive and uncaring when he purged the Silver Tablet. But the reality was that that was a weighty decision still being borne on his shoulders. He could still remember his final moments in that Zone, the only true and undeniable loss he had suffered in his life.

He knew that it was selfish of him to act as he had. Those people had believed in him. When they died, they didn't know that there was a chance to be resurrected, but if they had known that such a path existed… how would they feel knowing that he had made the decision to not grant them such an opportunity?

None of this was King Oryx's fault, but that didn't change the fact that Leonel's fuse when related to these matters was exceptionally short, even shorter than it usually was.

King Oryx was an exceptionally benevolent King. He hadn't hesitated to give up his life for a chance to protect his people. He truly had the heart and valiance of a ruler, he was a true man. However none of this would stop Leonel's footsteps.

It was either he was with him, or against him, there was no in between.

"Child…" King Oryx said lightly. "… You aren't as I remember. It seems that this world has ground down your spirit."

"And left behind something far sharper," Leonel replied just as calmly.

"If this is what you believe, then there's nothing much that I can say to you."

Leonel nodded slightly. "It really isn't something that you can understand. When your Oryx Kingdom still stood, you did nothing as the Human Kingdom grew stronger and stronger. You feared what their King had become and didn't dare to take action, choosing to remain passive.

"It was only after I took action and forced the issue that you were forced to take action. Ultimately, you lost your life and much of your Kingdom. The people you rule now were introduced to you by me. The strength of your favored son is in great thanks to me. Even the breath you breathe now was granted to you by me. So don't you believe it's a bit silly for you to speak to me as an all-knowing senior of some kind?"

Leonel's placid gaze met the Oryx King's own, there not seeming to be the slightest hint of a fluctuation within their depths.

The Oryx King fell into silence. This was hard to reply to because it was simply the truth. The details were broadly correct and there weren't any embellishments. Even so…

"And how did you actions end? What success did you have, exactly?"

"King Alexandre crossed the barrier to the Fifth Dimension only recently when the final began," Leonel said indifferently. "It took me only two years to reach the point of meeting them at the final gates of their Kingdom. Had you not been a coward and joined beneath my banner, it would have taken me three months at most. By then, I could have personally defeat him without such unwanted variables."

"So your reply to me is that a stranger didn't help you enough so it's thus the stranger's fault?"

Hearing these words, Leonel's placid expression vanished into a smile.

"I think you've framed it incorrectly. My reply to you is that it took someone with no stakes in your Kingdom to make you finally make a choice that wasn't cowardly and passive. And yet, even so, you haven't learned your lesson. You continue to bide your time, continue to be passive, continue to want to sit on the sidelines in hopes that no one will cause you and your people trouble.

"It's no wonder that your son doesn't want to follow in your steps to become a King, in his eyes, this is all a King can do."

"Leonel!" Elthor wanted to interrupt but he seemed to be shielded outside of the clashing auras of his father and Leonel.

"I can tell you this very clearly, though," Leonel continued, his aura growing, "I won't let you sit on the sideline. I will not allow such a variable to exist within the barriers of my Empire. The Oryx only have one of two choices.

"The first is to follow me as you should have from the very beginning, and the second is to be eradicated."

Leonel's gaze turned cold.

"I have invested a lot into the Oryx, too much. More than you know. I won't allow your cowardice to dictate the actions of your race any longer."

King Oryx's expression went entirely dark. He hadn't expected things to take this turn at all. Just what had gotten into this Leonel?