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C733 - If Not For...

Aina stood with her back to Nigmir's fallen body. Though one couldn't see her face, the cold look one could see through the slits in her mask were enough to send shivers down one's spine.

The contrast between Leonel and Aina was too drastic. There was no mercy, no hesitation, there wasn't even a small chance. The moment Nigmir showed such signs to her, she cut him down where he stood.

At that moment, Aina was pissed. She wasn't only pissed at the members of Bear Rose, she was pissed at Leonel too. He might think it was fine to forgive your enemies like this, but how was she supposed to react when a boorish brute who just tried to kill her man was let off so easily?

It was always easiest for the victim to forgive, but what about those who cared for the victim? Was she supposed to let things go too?

Aina felt that she was maybe too agitated, but the feeling was stifling. She didn't know how many times she had to tell Leonel to stop showing mercy like this. She didn't know when he'd finally realize that a hint of mercy shown today could easily come back to bite him the next. It was infuriating to the point she didn't even want to look at him right now.

If it wasn't for Nigmir coming in a timely fashion to give her something to vent on, she might have exploded already.

The volatile feelings in her chest rampaged around. And now, she had to wait ten minutes for the next victim.

Aina herself hated that she reacted so violently. She found it harder and harder to keep her cool when things were related to Leonel, a problem he ironically had the same issue with though toward her.

But, compared to Leonel who only wanted to protect her, Aina found some of Leonel's actions deeply frustrating sometimes.

She was fine with them saving all those freshmen because she knew it was a part of Leonel's larger scheme, a scheme that was working out perfectly now. But what was the point in sparing Senior Lu back then? And what about this Dune character? How much longer would he be like this?

'Dammit.' Aina's amber eyes tinged with red.

She reached out a hand and made a snatching motion toward Nigmir's corpse. What happened next left the crowd shivering.

The two halves of Nigmir's corpse convulsed. In the next moment, all the blood that had been pooling shot toward a single point, forming into a ball of crimson that left Nigmir's corpse looking like nothing more than a mummified figure.

But, even that didn't last long. Soon after, what remained of Nigmir's body dispelled into the wind like ash, floating away like meaningless motes of dust.

It was the kind of scene one would never forget in their lifetimes.

The blood continued to float by Aina as though it had a mind of its own, hovering there and reflecting the now high sunlight. It acted as a silent reminder of the scene they had all just witnessed.

Leonel's frown deepened. But in the end, he could only sigh.

As intense as his feelings were for Aina, he had yet to tell her than he loved her. Maybe it was because he didn't know what those words meant, or maybe it was because he still wasn't sure if he did.

Up to now, their relationship had managed to jump over many hurdles. But, the one that had yet to be cleared was ironically the very first one they faced.

That day… The image of Aina's delicate, small hand piercing through the heart of another human being was forever imprinted into his very soul.

He knew why she had done it. She was telling him that this was the person she was, the person that she had always been. The gentle, graceful young woman he had known in school was nothing but a mask she wore, both figuratively and literally.

She killed Conrad that day not only to protect her friends, but to show him that the girl he thought he liked wasn't her at all. She took this action even though she knew it would alienate not only him, but her own close sisters as well.

And it had worked. It sent him into a tailspin, one that he hadn't recovered from even now. Maybe he had only gotten better at ignoring it. Nothing more, nothing less.

It was quite funny. It seemed that he was very good at doing exactly that… ignoring things.

Even to this point, he still didn't believe that he could stand to his grandfather's ideology without feeling as though his comprehension of the world was crumbling.

All Leonel knew was that he liked Aina enough to ignore even such a blatant conflict… a core ideology that left them diametrically opposed.

As though this wasn't enough, the deeper and deeper Aina fell for Leonel, and the closer they became, the more this bothered her.

The more she cared for Leonel, the more she couldn't stand to lose him. In her mind, Leonel's softness was exactly a thing that could make such a situation happen, it was exactly that something that could cause this radiant sun before her, this man she adored so deeply, to vanish forever and never return.

Leonel smiled somewhat bitterly. Since Aina was fine, he could only let things be and allow her to vent.

However, now he was pissed as well. If it wasn't for the ways of that Raylion… If not for this Valiant Heart… If not for the way of this damned Dimensional Verse… If everything could be peaceful, if there simply was no conflict, would his Aina have to feel such conflicting emotions all the time?

Leonel's jaw set, his arms crossing over his bear chest. He looked blankly into the distance, his aura becoming heavier and heavier.

The stone beneath his feet snapped and whined, but he didn't seem to notice as his gaze flickered between various degrees of fury.

At that moment, the stone platform shook as another red-gold armored warrior faced Leonel.

This time when they met Leonel's gaze, it felt as though a wild beast had locked onto them. It felt as though Leonel wanted to see the whole world burn to ash.

Flames that seemed reaped from the depths of purgatory erupted.

To be continued