Dimensional Descent

Simeon soon vanished, teleporting back to what must have been the Brazinger family's estate. This left the three young men behind with Zannos slowly regaining his bearings.

When the golden haired Zannos finally realized just where he was, his head snapped around and he blinked. It was clear that his healing abilities were also far beyond that of a normal individual's. Rather than still being concussed, he seemed to be back to 100% in just a few minutes, just enough to catch a bit of the conversation between Adrin and Elilar.

"… Now he's pissed. You know Simeon is unpredictable Adrin, I wouldn't want him as an enemy."

Adrin shook his head. "This has little to do with how uncomfortable it makes me. It's a matter of principle. If not for Leonel, not to mention my little sister, a few of my cousins and other members of the younger ones would have been finished."

"Pft," Elilar laughed beside himself. "Your family went around snatching Zones and ended up almost dying, isn't that too funny?"

Adrin glared at Elilar but let it slide only because no one had truly ended up losing their lives.

"It was a Mythological Zone, so the risk was different. If I hadn't already been in the Fourth Dimension back then, I might have gone as well. It was just unfortunate that it mutated into a Unique Zone."

Elilar's pupils constricted. "… He survived a Unique Zone?"

A Unique Zone was something that Leonel had already come across twice. Well, once that very nearly became twice if he counted the Joan Zone. As such, to Leonel, it was no big deal and not even as rare as most made it seem to be.

But, the reality was that to most people… A Unique Zone was a death sentence! Pure and simple.

To put this matter into perspective, one only need to think of the Valiant Pillar Heirlooms of the Valiant Heart Mountain organization. That was the level of the technology one needed just to keep reusing an open Zone. If one wanted to enter and interfere with a Zone, the necessary threshold to meet was even higher.

What did that mean? It meant the use of a treasure that was equivalent to the Gold Grade Valiant Pillars or even their superior!

When things were put into this kind of perspective, just how shocking it was for Leonel to survive was painted out clearly. It also made it more obvious just what kind of enemy he had made by now handing over his findings from the Camelot Zone as well. It was no wonder that they were infuriated.

If not for the difficulty of traveling to lower Dimensions as a higher Dimensional existence, maybe they would have already sent someone Leonel couldn't possibly match up against.

"… I see. So it seems that Earth really does have some young heroes of its own."

Zannos spoke, wiping the blood from his lips. He didn't seem enraged by what had happened at all. In fact, his eyes had lit up to the point it seemed he might chase after Leonel right this moment. If they didn't know better, they'd think this battle freak was a member of the Brazinger family while it was Simeon who was a member of Zannos' Laevis family.

"They don't just have one of them." Adrin said, looking off into the distance.

"Well my fingers are itching." Zannos said with a grin.

Elilar rolled his eyes. "Can you be a little less shameless? You almost died just now."

…

Leonel very quickly closed in on his destination, the rain above still pelting down and the thick, rumbling black clouds growing as solid as the earth itself.

He hadn't hesitated to take Adrin up on his offer. After all, there was no need to fight a battle he didn't have to. Plus, the value of whatever was up ahead was no small matter, this Leonel knew for certain. It was likely that Adrin was also aware which was why Leonel had birthed a healthy respect for the young man as well.

Leonel's forward momentum came to a grinding halt once again. But, this time, there was no bowman nor was there any arrow.

Up ahead, as though a halo of heavenly light, there was a small hole in the dense black clouds. Compared to the kilometers of distance these storm clouds covered, this ten meter wide hole was like a pin drop.

A ray of golden light descended from it, gently touching the surface of the water to create a scene that left Leonel completely speechless.

All around, the raging tides of black water rose and fell, even crashing about the pillar of slightly slanted light. And yet, the waters that were graced by this light's touch were not only completely and perfectly still, but they had a beautiful sky blue color to them that made one think of clear tropical oceans one could see to the very bottom of.

Within this beautiful, still and clear water was a single koi fish with gorgeous golden scales and fins so delicate and flexible that they looked like transparent silk fabrics soaking in the water.

The koi fish was just two feet in length and was practically an ant in comparison to the colossal creatures Leonel had come across today, and yet it pulled him in while simultaneously giving him a sense of danger he had never experienced before.

'… Beautiful…'

It was the most gorgeous creature that Leonel had ever seen. Let alone killing it, he couldn't even muster up the fortitude he would need just to harm it. It was like a delicate flower, the absolute last of its kind, radiating the beauty of its ancestors and carrying the weight of an entire species on its shoulders.

For a long while, Leonel just stared, his heart gripped by something inexplicable that he couldn't even begin to express in words.

He was so enraptured that he didn't notice the grotesque, vile, and foul smelling creature that raised its tentacle to his back.