Dimensional Descent

Innate Nodes were incredibly rare, so much so that it was practically well accepted that only the Spirituals Race could produce them. Even when humans formed them, they were usually exceptionally low level Innate Nodes. Someone like Leonel who not only had one, but one of exceptionally high quality like the Scarlet Star Force Innate Node, was entirely unheard of.

Even so, even Leonel didn't have two Innate Nodes. Although he technically had three right now, one of them was regrown, the second was taken back from the one who had stolen it from him in the first place, and the final one was snatched from one of his enemies.

The fact that Amery had not just one, but two himself, and in such a perfect location for himself at that, was something that maybe only the highest echelon members of the Suiard family had been aware of... And that was because Amery had simply never needed to use them against those of his generation.

At that moment, the winds howled. Spiraling cyclones of Force formed around Amery swords, one wrapped in a deep, abyssal black light, and the other looking as though it had been coated in blood.

The black force, there was no doubt in Leonel's mind, was definitely Dark Force. This wasn't a low level Innate Node at all. Dark and Light Force were considered to be above most elemental Forces and only below Forces like Dream and Star Force. The fact that Leonel had had a Light Force affinity had already been a shocking matter to the people of Earth back when the Metamorphosis had just descended, and that was the location with the greatest concentration of talent in the entire Human Domain. If he had been exposed to have a Light Force Innate Node, the reactions wouldn't have been so "muted".

But then there was that odd liquid red Force. It looked almost like Blood at first gaze, and Leonel had truly thought it to be a Blood Force Innate Node. However, the longer he observed it for, the more he felt that this was probably not the case.

There was something different about this Force... It seemed to carry a hint of Water Force... another hint of Earth Force... and a final hint of Life Force.

That was when it hit Leonel. He had only vaguely heard about this Force, and that was only after he had gone through the entirety of the Void Library. If not for this, he might not even recognize this Force, much like he hadn't recognized Breaking Force back then.

This was Gaia Force.

This odd fusion of Water, Earth and Life Force was precisely Gaia Force. Its abilities were extremely enigmatic. Not only could it be extremely heavy, but it could borrow power from the earth and that of large bodies of water. This borrowed power would become the strength of the user, an almost infinite well of strength.

Leonel was absolutely certain that it had more abilities, abilities likely related to why Amery had actually dared to use the imagery of a bow and arrow to attack him earlier.

This wasn't for certain, but what was absolutely certain was the fact that this Gaia Force was most definitely a high level Force, a Force on the same level as Scarlet Star Force without a doubt. It seemed that this was likely the reason the Spirituals Religion had agreed to marry their Demi-Goddess to him.

"Is that so..." Leonel said lightly, his grin becoming wilder. "Two Innate Nodes? I have that, too."

BOOM!

Leonel's aura exploded forth like a collapsing star. His Innate Nodes began to glow with such force that they shimmered through his Divine Armor. But just when it seemed that his Scarlet Star Force would burn through, something changed.

His armor trembled, its crevices beginning to glow with a crimson light. Just when the crimson light was about to take over entirely, a silver-gold light flowed to meet it. Two vein patterns, one red-gold, and the other silver-gold, met and intertwined in a beautiful sort of dance.

His tier one armor was made of materials too weak to enter this state, but... who had said that he had shown everything his tier two armor could do?

Amery and Leonel stood off across from one another, their auras reaching their peak.

At that moment, on the outside, sitting as the observers, the Suiard family stood to their feet. They had all felt that this matter would only end in one way, but they had never expected that even before the battle could ramp up, Amery had brought out one of his greatest trump cards so casually.

He hadn't been pushed into a corner, his stamina wasn't running out, he hadn't even been injured yet, and yet he had chosen to make this move.

There was only one explanation for why. He felt that Leonel was an equal opponent, and an opponent that he should go all out against before he lost the chance to.

When they reached this conclusion, they felt that it was too difficult to accept. That was because there was only one person who was on such a level, and that was precisely the number one Queen Beauty of this generation, the Spiritual Religion Heiress.

How could there be a second?

Even with all of this said, Leonel and Amery seemed to have forgotten about the world all around them. As the skies collapsed and the ground crumbled, they stood in silence for just a moment before they clashed. Their speeds were so fast that their afterimages seemed to still be standing in the air, having not moved at all. In fact, their afterimages had yet to even fade by the time they returned to their same exact locations, blood trickling from both of their lips.

Horns began to slowly grow from Amery's forehead as three tails extended from Leonel's back, growing so large that their swinging motion stirred the clouds in the sky.

A silence fell.

BANG!

The aftershock of their exchange finally exploded forth, leveling the entire city to the ground.

The Human Domain watched with rapt attention. Just how many trump cards did these two youths have?

But most importantly... The Spear Deity seemed to have been born in that moment.