Dimensional Descent

Patriarch Khafra smiled when he entered the first floor. It was identical to Leonel's, filled with carnivorous plants hidden within the beauty.

On his practically mummified face, such a smile was nothing short of eerie. His bones rattled and four swirling portals of space rippled behind him, but in the end, he settled them down. No, it still wasn't necessary to go so far.

Leonel was definitely a surprise, but his strength wasn't to the point that it was unfathomable.

During the first battle, he had gone at about 10% or so. 20% should be enough to crush Leonel, but there wasn't much room for error anymore.

'I'll go at 30%. In this environment, it's easier to explain it away.'

Even if he cleared this Tower with exceptional speed, it could be explained away with the fact that he was just particularly good at analyzing and clearing Force Arts. Plus, this was the one recurring challenge that many prepared for and trained with. There was even a Pavilion in every Dream Pavilion that could replicate some of this challenge's effects.

In that case, this was the perfect chance for him to exhibit some of his strength without seeming too suspicious.

30% was already far more than what Leonel deserved.

A carnivorous plant tried to swallow him whole from above, but Patriarch Khafra suddenly waved a hand, causing it to disappear into motes of light. However, when one looked closer, these motes of light had several runes dancing within them.

'The secret to clearing these Realms fast is to find the core of the world, decipher it, then diffuse it akin to a bomb... the core should be...'

Patriarch Khafra's gaze flickered toward where the core was. He had already found it; this was the first floor after all. But he waited a few seconds, fighting back against a swarm of carnivorous beasts before he flashed and appeared near the core.

The region was quite swampy. It was a lake, but it was covered in so many leaves and lily pads that it looked almost like solid ground.

He observed it for a moment before he nodded.

His figure flickered and his toes lightly tapped the ground. He hopped from lily pad to lily pad so quickly that only the slightest ripples spread through the water.

Every time he did so, a gorgeous light would radiate, and slowly, a chain was formed through the water.

When Patriarch Khafra made it to the other side, the rippling lights connected and echoed through the whole world. In a flash, the world was enveloped and then vanished into an infinite scape of white.

'Good. Let's move on to the next floor.'

...

When Patriarch Khafra appeared once again, he found himself in a desert. Dunes rose and fell for as far as the eyes could see, and the ground suddenly shook beneath him.

A sinkhole that seemed to span hundreds of meters appeared beneath him, and a beast tried to swallow him whole.

...

Patriarch Khafra left the fourth floor, entering the fifth. This time, it was a land of snow. However, every time the snowflakes that fell from the skies landed on him, he felt his Dream Force being sapped away as his mind was attacked. It was a cold that was more than bone-deep, it was soul-deep, reaching into the depths of his being and trying to force him to give in.

He raised up a palm, letting a snowflake fall onto it.

'This is a bit more difficult. The formation is actually hidden in the falling snowflakes, and every time they hit the ground, the overall formation becomes more complicated.

'The trick should be that the snowflakes are all identical. Even Gods wouldn't be able to form such a complex array, and any that would exist would be far too difficult to maintain just energy-wise.

'In that case... Just a single Inverse Force Art should do. Analyze the snowflake and counter it on a large scale...'

...

Patriarch Khafra moved with great speed. If much of the world's attention wasn't diverted away by the battle of the Owlans and Voice Race descendants, he would have certainly impressed a large segment of the population. Who knew that the Nomads had such an expert amongst them? It was a shocking matter without a doubt.

What he didn't know was that his two subordinates were frozen.

As Patriarch Khafra cleared the fifth floor, Leonel had already long since appeared back in the courtroom. In fact, he had appeared the moment Patriarch Khafra entered the third floor.

The comparisons were odious. It weighed so heavily on them that they couldn't even fathom what was going on.

Little Fox held a teddy bear in his arms, squeezing it tightly as he looked toward Leonel. Leonel met the adorable little boy's gaze with a grin.

"How did you do that?" Little Fox asked in a voice so tender and innocent it was hard for anyone to reject him.

"How?" Leonel chuckled, his grin widened. "Because I'm strong."

The words echoed and Gregwyn felt like a hammer had struck him.

The first round was still acceptable because it was clear that Patriarch Khafra just didn't expect Leonel to explode with so much potential. But this round...

What was the explanation?

They looked up and witnessed their Patriarch slowly making his way forward. He was meticulous and impressive by any metric you wanted to use. And yet, every time he cleared a floor, it was like another slap to their faces.

Watching him earnestly press forward, and even hold back as though he was certain he was in the lead, they felt their hearts twisting as though a dagger had been plunged into it and wrenched out again, and again, and again.

All the while, Leonel stood there with a bright smile on his face as though he had just done the most normal thing in the world. He didn't mind the glances or Gregwyn's despair.

This was how all things should be.

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