Dimensional Descent

Augustus Ovilteen.

One would have thought that he was a man of grand stature, the kind of man who could cause waves throughout an entire galaxy with nothing but a single word, the kind of man who would have an aura that made such a thing clear.

However, while it was indeed true that he could flip the Milky Way on its head with a single thought, the rest wasn't true. In fact, he was very easily overshadowed by a few overbearing youths and seemed to be unmoved by it all. Even worse than that, causing chaos in the Milky Way might not even be so easy for him any longer as the hidden undercurrents of this galaxy only became more and more pronounced.

The man himself looked like a calm scholar. He wasn't stoic, and instead had an even smile on his face that made him seem warm and inviting. At the same time, though he wasn't short, he wasn't tall either, being under six feet tall. There didn't seem to be anything imposing about him in the slightest. He didn't even seem to care when this youth called him by his first name.

This realization might have been shocking to many. The very man whose decisions even his own children feared actually appeared like this. But, it was maybe those who could hide their thoughts so thoroughly that were the most fearsome.

"If you and your friends would like to take this as a hunt for sport, I don't mind. Consider Planet Solara your own grounds for as long as you're here. However, we can also deal with this for you so that your training is more free and unrestrained. The choice is yours."

Augustus' voice was quite even and measured. He neither spoke too loudly nor softly. And, despite his ingratiating smile, his words had some backbone to them. It seemed that he was very much used to towing the line between servile and overbearing.

The tall, shark toothed youth thought for a moment before shaking his head. He looked toward the other youths that were by his side, but all of them had on an expression that said they didn't want to be disturbed. They had been the silently brewing undercurrent for too long, they didn't want to be restricted by anything any longer.

"It doesn't make much of a difference. We'll go ourselves."

"Mm. Alright." Augustus nodded.

The youths didn't seem to need much more than this and instantly shot out of the rest location, each of them using their own methods to deal with the heat. Very soon, there was no one left but Augustus and his attendants.

"Pull up what the scanners picked up." August spoke after they disappeared.

Like an organized machine, the attendants began to move about. Soon, Augustus had several floating screens before him.

"… How clever."

The images were all too obstructed to get a proper view. Though they had still managed to catch Leonel, because he had ridden a 'solar' flare in, there was no clear image of him. And, but the time the images cleared, Leonel had activated [Refractive Light], causing him to vanish.

About the only things they knew were where Leonel landed and the initial direction he went in.

"Guild Head, there are large movements nearing the core of the planet. It is likely that this individual has that as their target destination."

"Mm." Augustus nodded, his light smile not fading. "Send out a few elite troops adept at concealment. Don't let anything happen to those youths, I don't want a single hair on their heads harmed."

"Yes! Guild Head!"

Augustus directly ignored the choice of those youth. In fact, he continued to monitor the situation, fully prepared to act personally should the situation warrant it.

These youths were his key to reaching the next level. All of these petty squabbles and this internal conflict were nothing but pebbles in his way. He had been planning for too long to give up his piece of the pie.

All these mysterious factions that were suddenly popping up within the Guild he had built up with his own blood, sweat and tears… He would destroy them all one by one.

…

Leonel wasn't aware that he had long since been discovered. But, as he had already decided previously, it hardly mattered to him. He had already come here prepared to be hunted.

A Disaster World provided a unique opportunity. Unlike a regular planet, even if they were aware that someone was invading, it wasn't necessarily a simple task to do anything.

At the same time, though, Leonel was aware that the closer he got to the core of this planet, the smaller the search radius would become, especially if they were already monitoring him. So, he still had to have some urgency in his movements.

Leonel, who had been speeding through the curtains of lava like a bullet, suddenly came to a grinding halt.

'Here's the first.'

In this world, Leonel didn't even need to rely on the dictionary to find ore deposits. His own affinities and sensitivities were enough, especially after entering the Fifth Dimension. He could sense things from hundreds of kilometers away as long as he focused, and that was only amplified in this world.

This wasn't the first ore deposit Leonel had come across, but it was the first that was worth his time because it was the first with a large store of Fifth Dimensional Ores. In fact, this vein alone was almost 70% Fifth Dimensional.

If the Milky Way Guild found this deposit, it would most definitely be a hassle. Not only would they need to establish a safe route to get to it, but they would then need miners who were strong and sturdy enough to both deal with the pressure at this depth and the ridiculous heat. As though that wasn't bad enough, digging up such ores came with dangers in their own right, who knew when you would run into a Fuel Type Ore that would implode in your face and take half your body with it?

But for Leonel…

'Hm, 12 minutes?'