Leonel fell out of the air, landing on the ground with a stumble.
His lungs felt like they were filled with sand at this point. If it wasn't because he had a decent amount of strength in his healthy form, he wouldn't have nearly enough energy left in this state to drag around a Fiend Class demon.
'Hm?'
Leonel's gaze turned in a certain direction. Over there, a huge pillar of baleful lights swirling in crimson and black swirling like a cyclone. The aura was more powerful than anything he had experienced before in this demon world, so much so that even in this state, he could feel it.
It had to be understood that right now, Leonel's couldn't even use his Internal Sight properly, at least not to his normal exaggerated ranges. When he fought the cobra demon he had focused all the Dream Force stamina he had left in his Ability Index so that he would be able to calculate a path to victory, and that he did.
But right now, since he didn't need to fuel his Ability Index to its very peak, he was able to use his Internal Sight to a small extent. But even then, it was just barely in a 100 meter radius.
If others heard Leonel calling 100 meters a small radius for his Internal Sight, they would be greatly shocked. But truthfully, wasn't a 100 meters small compared to the over 100 kilometers Leonel was usually capable of? Even his Starry Spirit Domain had had a range a hundred times that, and it was on a level all to its own.
That pillar was at least 20 kilometers away from Leonel, though, and yet he could still sense it so clearly. He hadn't even initially been facing that way and could have easily missed it considering his languid state, but it was as though it demanded his attention.
Leonel's brow furrowed. This aura wasn't one he recognized, but the coercion laced through it was something he had only ever felt from Aina.
When Aina first rid herself of her curse, she had gained a coercion ability that she found difficult to control. Just by existing, her charm could practically enslave the minds of others. When she spoke, her words carried a beauty all to their own. The mental pressure she placed on most was simply on another level, even Leonel was somewhat affected.
Of course, this was also because Leonel had very deep feelings for Aina to begin with. Normally, such coercion wouldn't work on him at all.
Leonel didn't know exactly what happened between his and Aina's separation, and their meeting once more. But by then, she had gained perfect control over her coercion and it never leaked again. In fact, she didn't even use it in battle.
The last time she used it at all was under Leonel's request to sing a note to test something, resulting in them creating a powerful combination attack, and attack, without which, they wouldn't have been able to kill the first lower Fiend Class demon they met in this world. It was thanks to defeating this demon that they gained a small foothold in this world to begin with.
However, even after this, Aina seemed quite reluctant to use it. That said, Leonel never blamed her because he understood her feelings quite intimately.
That experience Aina had on Terrain was a heavy scar on her heart. She almost lost her life to the Puppet Master, and that was one thing that she could accept, but what the Puppet Master had wanted to do to her made her freeze up.
The one dream Aina had outside of revenge for her mother was to have a large family, for her to bask in warmth she had never gotten a chance to experience as a child and live a happy life.
Although Aina had originally wanted to keep a distance from Leonel when the Metamorphosis descended, this wasn't because she hadn't had such hopes buried within her heart, but rather because she wanted to protect Leonel… a sentiment that waned somewhat the more of his talent he displayed, but never quite fully vanished.
It could be said that of all of Aina's hopes, this was the one that ranked second of them all, but it was also the one that acted as the guiding light of her heart. While revenge might have been number one, there was only so much of such darkness a person could take.
Why else would Aina want to have so many children? She really hadn't been joking that day, as many children as Leonel was willing to give her, was as many as she would birth. She wanted a family so large that she would never have to experience coldness again.
And yet, that bright, beautiful hope within her heart, within her soul, was taken, twisted, darkened and perverted by the Puppet Master.
Back then, it had really seemed like there would be nothing she could do, her body was out of her control and she could only sit, shivering. However, due to a stroke of luck, she had been able to use the effect of her curse to escape.
But then the bastard appeared again on Earth all while she was in one of her happiest moments with Leonel.
The Puppet Master once again snatched control of her body away.
Back then, Leonel hadn't understood Aina's thoughts and emotions so deeply, but he had understood enough to be infuriated. He didn't need to know the details, the fact that someone had made his Aina feel such a way was enough for him to sentence them to death. So…
He dropped a city from the skies.
Leonel had done everything he could, but since that day, Aina had been very hesitant to use her abilities as a Blood Sovereign, only feeling comfortable enough to when matters were related to Leonel. She had always hated them because of that lack of control she had experienced that day.
'… Is it you…?'
Despite only just thinking this, Leonel was already running in that direction. His lungs threatened to stop expanding no matter how hard he breathed, but he just kept running. No matter how weak he was now, 20 kilometers was still a small distance to him…
And yet it took almost half an hour before he laid eyes on her.
The moment he did, his body gave way.
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