W

C1748 No Wonder

Leonel watched Emna move; At times she would seem like a prowling cat beast and at other times she would become a sliding shadow; All of her movements were absolutely seamless and flowed from one to the next without the slightest wasted energy;

There was only a single person that Leonel had ever seen move like this; and that was the love of his life; Aina;

Aina always fought without the slightest bit of wasted energy; This was different from the more restrained style that Leonel had, albeit subtly;

Leonel didn't seem to waste any energy on the surface only because he always chose the most efficient route to defeat all of his opponents, but efficiency and no wasted energy didn't necessarily mean the same thing; While the latter always encompassed the former, the vice versa wasn't necessarily true;

Aina's battle style was the exact opposite of Leonel's, always suppressing her enemy with absolute strength and rarely ever holding anything back, however even so, she never wasted a single strand of energy all the while.

This was to say that Aina's method of using her body always managed to put 100% into her strike; her stride; and or her defense; Much the same way; Emna managed to achieve this as well; that sort of instinctual battle style that always made perfect use of one's bodily strength;

Just the fact that Leonel only knew one person like this. and that this person also happened to be the only individual Leonel had met that he felt truly matched him in talent. it was shocking enough to say the least;

From Leonel's understanding. Aina's instinct in fighting came from her Brazinger family Lineage Factor. the Berserk God Lineage Factor; There was also a chance that it had undergone a slight mutation considering the fact that she was only half Brazinger as opposed to fully Brazinger. a fact of which was at the root of many of the issues she had faced in her life;

However. Emna. or rather Emna Beiceran. didn't have such a Lineage Factor as far as Leonel understood; In addition. he knew what her Ability Index was as well; She had the Blade Affinity Ability Index. and when he last met her. she was at the Body as a Blade Stage which allowed her to use Blade Forces from any location on her body;

It was potentially possible that there wasn't just a single bastard child of the Brazinger family; If Aina's father could step out of the family, there was no saying that others couldn't do it as well; Plus, the fact that she didn't share the Brazinger family name was useless;

Aina had always said that she would keep the Brazinger family name until the day they most wanted her to have it; Only then would she reject it; This obviously implied that Aina could change her name whenever she pleased. she just didn't want to;

Leonel understood her feelings well; Aina was rejected from the family as a child. her father was ostracized. she was burdened with a curse and her mother was executed; She wanted more than to just slaughter; She wanted them to lower their heads in shame. she wanted them to acknowledge that her mother wasn't as useless as they said she was. she wanted them to feel endless regret in their final moments;

This was all to say that just because Emna didn't share the family name, didn't mean that she wasn't a Brazinger;

As Leonel was lost in thought. Emna made it to the fat old man and attacked with a flash;

Although Leonel could easily save the big bellied man, or even just alert him to what was happening, he didn't do so.

After separating his soul from his body, and especially after infusing the Runes of the Emperor's Might Lineage Factor's core abilities, Leonel's sensitivity toward things had become a lot sharper; Not only could he apply pressure that found its roots in his demeanor and temperament, he could use it to somewhat see through the demeanors and temperaments of others;

Leonel hadn't been able to do this in the past, at the very least he couldn't do it with such absolute assurance, but ever since the Emperor's Might tablet brought him along to perfectly grasp its secrets and integrate with his Runes as though he had comprehended them all personally, this passive ability of his became far more active while also becoming more enigmatic;

This was to say that Leonel could feel that Emna wasn't acting out of maliciousness. She had come here for a purpose and she even felt a faint hostility toward the man.

At the same time, the big bellied man had a shroud of shrewdness and subterfuge around him. These weren't things a person manning a normal gas station should have. It was clear that his identity wasn't as simple as it seemed.

While others observing this might feel as though Emna was trying to rob the place. Although the station looked shabby, given its location, there was probably a large deposit of funds on it since it wasn't convenient to move them away given how out of the way this place was.

However, Leonel saw an assassin about to execute an assignment, an assignment they felt was important for reasons beyond the monetary compensation they would receive.

Suddenly, Emna pounced, her finger piercing forward and shuttling through the throat of the big bellied man.

As expected, her Blade Affinity was far more potent than the past. In fact…

Leonel's gaze flashed. It was no wonder, no wonder he felt that she was so dangerous.

The big bellied man grabbed at his throat, roaring in fury.

'Seventh Dimension!' Leonel's brows shot up. He had been so focused on Emna that he hadn't properly seen through this big bellied man. No, it was more like this man seemed to have a method of concealment.

Emna immediately retreated as the aura of the big bellied man descended.

Without hesitation, Leonel urged the flagship forward, appearing within the asteroid belt in an instant.

To be continued