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C526 - What's Going On?

Lionel's face was exceptionally pale. One couldn't call him either handsome or ugly, but simply average. Though, it was a bit difficult to tell if this was the best he could do, or if it was simply because he was malnourished.

With how sunken his cheeks were, it was clear that he had never had enough to eat. So, though he looked quite plain now, he may very well look different if he finally began to receive enough sustenance.

However, this wasn't the reason Leonel felt he looked nothing like him. The truth was that with Leonel's senses, it was quite easy for him to fill in Lionel's features and extrapolate how the latter would look. But, even then, they were nothing alike.

Lionel's jaw wasn't as sharp as his own, his cheeks weren't as high, and his nose was far more prominent and pointed. In addition, Leonel was only just about two meters tall now or 6'6. He had grown a few inches since his last day at Royal Blue Academy… But, Leonel could tell that if Lionel stood straight, the latter would be over seven feet tall, a full head taller than Leonel.

Whether Lionel and Leonel looked the same was hardly relevant on any other day. But, when the first words out of Lionel's mouth was that they were identical… It left Leonel at a loss. Just what was that supposed to mean?

The truth of the matter was that other than the color of their eyes and the fact Lionel had the same messy, dirty blond hair Leonel once had before he activated his Metal Synergy Lineage Factor… They were quite literally nothing alike.

And, as though to drive this point further, Leonel kept getting an uneasy feeling from the vacancy in Lionel's gaze. Lionel sounded so cheerful and his words even seemed to carry the hint of being pleasantly surprised... all while his gaze remained as deadpan as could be.

This reality only made Leonel feel more uneasy.

"Stay alert." Leonel said softly. His words were only heard by those to his back.

Lionel continued to observe Leonel curiously, a faint excitement that never reached his eyes dancing across his expression.

"… Are we related? Are you my brother perhaps? A cousin who happens to look a lot like me? Are we … Ah, sorry, I forget the word. I think it starts with a 't'? Tweens maybe? Twines? Ah, forget it. My mother, do you know her?"

Leonel's frown deepened.

'His social awareness is severely lacking. His expressions all seem to be slightly off. The only way he'd think we look the same is if he had never seen himself in a mirror before… But, even then, why would that be the conclusion he jumped to? Even if he had never seen himself in a mirror before, where would he get the thought that I was who he looked like? Where would he have seen me before?'

The more Leonel thought, the more he came to understand that Dark Cloud Prison wasn't as simple as he originally thought. The only obvious conclusion he could make was that these men and women before him were actually prisoners.

That much was obvious. After all, they all wore the same garbs so this wasn't a hard conclusion to come to. What was more damning was the fact that these prisoners acted as though they had never seen the light of day.

Leonel shook his head. It seemed he was too na?ve. There was no way that The Empire' Prison would be as perfect as they tried to make it seem to be.

"… He's dangerous…"

Aina's voice drifted to Leonel's ears.

Leonel nodded seriously, his fists clenching.

In the distance, when Governor Duke Owen realized that it was Leonel who had appeared, his gaze flashed with a complicated light. He almost forgot about the horrible pain shaking his body.

However, Leonel no longer had the mind to pay to his Coach Owen. It wasn't because he didn't care about his life. In fact, there was no other person here who he cared more about with the exception of Aina. But, he had to take action now.

There was something odd about the atmosphere. It should have been a battle between Hargrove City and Dark Cloud Prison. But, somehow, this group, led by Lionel, had interfered and become the main enemy.

Leonel also felt like if he moved forward any further, a strong spatial lock would collapse around him. At the moment, it had been weakened considerably due to what seemed like Escobar's domain of Universal Force. But, considering the state of his coach at the moment, how much longer could he really hold out?

Lionel blinked, feeling somewhat disappointed.

"Why won't you answer me?"

In response, Leonel flipped over a palm, a pitch black spear appearing in his hand. The little mink seemed to awaken atop his head, the little guy's gaze locked onto the group before them.

"Maybe I didn't give you enough information?" Lionel wondered aloud to himself. "My name is Leonel Morales. As for my mother's name, I'm not sure. Do we share a family name?"

Leonel froze.

What the hell?

Aina's brows furrowed in confusion as well. Was there really such a coincidence in the world?

Believing that someone shared the same name as Leonel wasn't too surprising. Before the Metamorphosis, Earth's population was counted in the tens of billions, approaching a hundred billion. Back then, there were no shortage of people who shared not only the same first name, but even the same last name, and there were even more people who shared the same name pronunciation but differed in the spelling.

However, what made this instance particularly shocking was the fact that Lionel's first words had been that he and Leonel looked identical…. Could there be such a coincidence in this world?

Confusion colored Leonel's features. He had just steeled himself to attack, but now he questioned himself. Was this a practical joke? But why did it not seem like one?

What was going on here exactly?

To be continued