Dimensional Descent

 Only One

Leonel didn't even look back at the man as he continued his way forward. If someone was watching, it would have been hardly possible to see the trajectory of his spear at all. That was because he had just used Timeless Radiance.

The incorporation of an ability of a bow that wasn't even in his hand into a spear that was casually created from thin air was enough to say that Leonel's Dharma creation "failure" wasn't what others might expect.

When others failed Dharmas, it was a blow to their psyche, both intangibly and tangibly.

On the one hand, they felt like their paths had been ruined, and the confidence they had in them took a hit.

But on the other hand, there was a much more tangible restriction that took place afterward as well. Failing to form a Dharma was a lot like having an Innate Node. The failure to do it once would make it much more difficult to do in the future and would even come with a hit to one's Force

Manipulation.

This was because, despite the failure, the connection with Existence would have already been made. Or rather, the severance of one's connection with Existence.

The first step to forming a Dharma was going from relying on the world around you to yourself to forge, manipulate, and create your own Forces.

But contradictorily, you would also need Existence's help to finish the creation of a Dharma as well. After all, part of forming a Dharma was acknowledgment by the Northern Star that you had a path worthy of investing in.

But how could you do that when your connection with Existence was already severed?

Leonel, however, didn't seem to worry about it at all.

The reason he had cut off his Dharma creation was twofold.

First, he wanted to go through all of these spear experts. He wanted to see how far these experts went and what kind of monsters the spearmen of history had.

And second... his Dharma had to also include his Bow Force.

Leonel began to go through the experts one after another.

His speed in doing so now was on a whole other level, but it wasn't because he had changed tactics.

He was still swallowing up the techniques of his opponents... it was just that he was doing it with much greater speed now than ever before.

The chaos of his spear shone forth. It had a fluidity now that it never did before.

He didn't need to rely solely on his Ability Index to analyze the paths of his opponents. The arrogance of his spear now contained a flexible character to it.

It was one of the rules of order that Leonel had set. He hadn't changed the arrogance of his spear, but instead, he challenged it.

It wanted to be the number one Spear Force to ever exist? Sure. Then prove it by swallowing every Spear Force you came into contact with.

Leonel's Spear Force path changed again and again, fluid and almost ethereal in its presence.

IIis own Spear Path seemed hidden away like a slumbering dragon, curled away in its cave and waiting to make its presence known.

However, for now, no one could make him show it at all.

Everything he came across was blown away. One fluid strike after another, endless and sharp in their cadence.

Every time Leonel walked out of a statue, rather than being more injured like before, he only seemed to be getting better and better.

These spearmen couldn't pressure him any longer, and his body's natural healing factors were kicking in, especially with all of the Spear Force in the air.

And now that he could swallow any Spear path, it was like his enemies were presenting him with the Force he needed to heal himself.

Again and again, almost to the point of monotony, he crushed those in his path.

He was beginning to think that entering this Idol Battlefield was the smartest decision that he had ever made in his life. This sort of improvement was simply not something that he could have made in the outside world.

Only under these continuous grindstones could he manage to make it so far, only with this sort of pressure, only with this focused sort of attention on the task at hand.

Nothing could shake him from his focus...

Until he reached the second to last statue.

Leonel entered with the same careless disregard as ever to find a man standing across from him. He had a head of flowing bronze hair, deep amber eyes that shone like stars, and a pair of glasses to hide them behind.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

He stood tall and straight, and yet his aura almost seemed casual and weightless in a way, almost as though he had yet to come across anyone that could force even a modicum of seriousness at him. In fact, looking at him felt a lot like watching a dragon in deep slumber... an ironic picture considering Leonel felt that that was precisely the image his own suppressed Spear Force was experiencing.

The man met his gaze, looking at him without much of a change in expression.

The spear in his hand was as unadorned as that expression of his. A simple wooden spear with a blade that looked almost hand-sharpened.

The only sound that could be heard in the room of endless white was the breathing of the two men, slow and steady as though nothing could move them from their peace.

And yet, one of them at least had tears falling from his eyes.

Leonel looked at the form of his father, his chest in turmoil and a deep rage he had always been trying to keep suppressed was continually trying to bubble its way back up.

If it had still been there, he couldn't have guaranteed that his soul wouldn't have been steeped in blood once again as the bloodthirstiness hidden within began to pool forth.

There was only one man who could make him feel this way.

Velasco Morales.