105-117

Chapter 105 - Defector

[Bonus Chapter for 700 powerstones :) The chapter for 1050 coming soon]

The location was a bustling harbor.

Half a dozen ships were docked parallel to the shore, each of them with a large ramp coming out from their sides. It was possible to see many crewmen rushing up and down these ramps. Some of them were pulling large pieces of cargo, others were casually chatting, and a small few were barking out orders from on high.

The ships themselves were quite an odd sight to behold, especially in the 25th century. Instead of being magnificent steel behemoths, they were all ordinary wooden ships. In fact, they all had sails and a lower level that seemed to have slits for long armed oars.

The dozen ships weren't very large at just about 40 to 50 meters in length. However, off the shore, a distance away, it was possible to see a large mother ship at almost 200 meters in size. It seemed to be overlooking the operation.

At that moment, a young man made his way from the distance toward the harbor with slow steps.

His hair was messy and long, colored with a brownish gold. It swayed in the wind, occasionally covering the glow of his pale green eyes. His face had a hint of a slowly maturing immaturity to it. The start of a youthful and unkempt beard was beginning to line his jaw, giving him a gruff but handsome appearance.

He was dressed simply. A pair of sweatpants and sneakers graced his lower half while his torso was fitted by a tight long-sleeved and black compression shirt that shimmered with hexagonal patterns. There was even a silver chain with an almost imperceptible crack hanging from his neck.

He was the kind of existence that was all too rare after the Metamorphosis descended. If it wasn't for the exquisite spear on his back, one would think he was nothing more than an ordinary teenage boy.

But the oddity still remained obvious. The boy was too… clean. How was it possible for a lone traveler to cross the Province so casually? He even looked like he was having a nice stroll.

His face didn't carry the heaviness one who had just put their life on the line should carry. In fact, he seemed carefree. If it wasn't for the calculating flicker that passed his eyes every so often, one would think he was naive.

Of course, those tasked with guarding the perimeter of the harbor immediately noticed this young man. After all, he didn't try to hide his presence at all. But they were left at a complete loss. How were they supposed to handle this situation?

Obviously, their task was to repel weak Invalids and report strong ones. But, there wasn't exactly a protocol for handling a lone human boy…

"Hello."

The boy's voice snapped them out of their shock. They couldn't help but feel embarrassed that he was the one to speak first. Any hope they had had of establishing who was in charge was thrown out the window.

It really wasn't their fault though. Who walks through a city of Invalids so casually, even to the point of wearing a smile on his face?

The scouts on duty looked at each other.

"Who are you? State your name and purpose."

Someone of the team of three finally stepped out and said this. Though he was trying to reclaim some face for his scouting squad, the slight tinge of red on his face showed that he was better at hiding his embarrassment and thickening his skin compared to others. That was about all.

The young man smiled and took a card out from his pocket.

"My name is Leonel Morales, I'm here to join the Slayer Legion."

The eyes of the three men sharpened. Their unprofessional attitude vanished and their backs became as straight as javelins. Leonel could tell by their stats that they were much weaker than he was, but their auras alone showed that their experience in battle was far beyond his own.

The scout who had stepped forward first looked Leonel up and down. The more he looked, the more suspicious Leonel became to him.

How else could a teenage boy come out from that death trap alone without a scratch on his body? Even his clothes were immaculate. The only explanation seemed to be that he was a spy.

'… It can't be that the Empire would send such an incompetent spy, right?' The scout's brow furrowed in confusion.

In the end, he shook his head. He was a scout, not a commander. He would leave this decision to the bigwigs. At this point, if Leonel really wasn't a spy, that meant he was powerful enough to travel alone unscathed. Their Slayer Legion was always in need of helpers.

Plus… That was an invitation card in his hand. An invitation card likely meant he had already been scouted and chosen by their leaders. In that case, he had even more reason to bring Leonel in.

"You two stay here." The lead scout said. "I'll bring him in."

The two remaining scouts watched Leonel disappear with their partner with deep apprehension.

'They're cautious, but still not as cautious as I thought they'd be…' Leonel thought to himself. '… If the Slayer Legion is run by anyone with half a brain cell, they've most definitely taken advantage of the Metamorphosis to infiltrate the Fort. In that case, it's very likely that they've heard of me before, this should make things easier on me.'

Leonel was well aware that he would be seen as a suspicious entity if he came here so openly. But, he was banking on his being a fugitive to make things smoother. It was unlikely that they'd conclude he was a spy like this.

Soon, Leonel was brought over to one of the smaller ships. He followed the lead scout beneath the deck and down a well lit corridor with a much wider width than he was expecting.

Everywhere he passed, odd gazes fell onto him. It was obvious that everyone here was quite familiar with one another, so the sudden appearance of a stranger had them all putting their guards up.

The knocking of a knuckle onto hardwood woke Leonel from his thoughts.

"What is it?"

A rough voice entered Leonel's ears. But, he could faintly tell that it had a feminine quality to it.

"Captain Sela, I've brought a … defector."

The lower deck seemed to freeze. Many who had been walking around, going about their business, stopped and looked toward Leonel in unison.

Chapter 106 - Critical Error

[Bonus chapter for 1050... pray for me]

Leonel scratched the back of his head a bit awkwardly, but that was about all. He wasn't the type of person to get stage fright, he only wished their gazes would be a little less intense.

That said, Leonel didn't blame them. After all, it was indeed true that he wasn't very sincere in joining them. He only wanted to make use of them in order to take down Royal Blue Fort. As for the future? Leonel really hadn't thought much about it.

Without knowing exactly what kind of association the Slayer Legion was, he wouldn't casually put all his eggs in a single basket. And, even though Earth was his home, the matters revolving around James, not to mention the Brazinger Clan, was making it seem less and less homely to him.

It was obvious to him by now that his father wasn't from Earth. In that case, didn't that mean he had a home somewhere else?

The only use Earth had to him right now were the Zones it produced. He needed to either clear the first SS-grade Zone or clear an SSS-grade Zone so that he could exchange a Tier 9 Black reward for a ticket to Terrain. This was all he wanted.

"… Come in."

"Go on." The lead scout ushered toward the door.

Leonel raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to follow me in?"

The lead scout and the others who had been staring at him had weird expressions on after hearing his question.

After a while, Leonel understood their intentions. It seemed that they had quite a bit of belief in this captain of theirs. Clearly, they didn't believe he had the ability to harm her on his own. They were confident to the point of not even caring to enter along with him.

To such a thing, Leonel could only shrug. He pushed the cabin door open and entered. What he saw, though, left him a bit speechless.

Leonel never thought that he would ever have to use the word 'burly' to describe a woman, but there really was no better descriptor for Captain Sela.

She was a large woman of almost seven feet tall. She was shaped like a round tank with towering breasts that still somehow managed to be smaller than her large gut.

One might call her fat, but when Leonel looked toward her, he didn't have that thought. The reason was simple. Though she could be described in such a way, her body was still brimming with power. Leonel even saw through that her speed and agility weren't low at all, even approaching 1.00.

Captain Sela stood from a chair she seemed to trust far too much and walked over toward Leonel. She was silent, but her steps made Leonel feel as though she alone was causing the ship to sway.

When she was just half a meter from Leonel, she stopped, towering over him.

'Despite how she looks, she actually smells quite nice… Why is this scent so familiar, though?' Leonel's brow furrowed slightly.

Captain Sela looked Leonel up and down. She seemed curious about him. The boy didn't fear her and even allowed her to get so close without flinching. There were very few people within the Slayer Legion who could do such a thing. It was either that this boy possessed some real strength or that he was simply ignorant to the point of stupidity.

It was a full minute before Captain Sela felt that she had observed Leonel for long enough. Someone else might have felt too embarrassed to continue on for so long, but it seemed that this Captain didn't care.

"What's your name?"

"Leonel Morales."

"Is that so? I'm aware of the names of all those the Slayer Legion reaches out toward, but your name has never been mentioned. In that case, why shouldn't I execute you as a spy right now?"

Leonel inwardly cocked an eyebrow. He had only told the lead scout that he had come here with an invitation card, but he had yet to tell Captain Sela this. However, after a moment, he realized that the card was still in his hands. After observing him for so long, it would be quite negligent of the captain to miss something like that.

'She remembers all of the names…? I doubt that. As an organization that wants to take down the Ascension Empire, they're definitely extremely cautious. Someone I could meet so easily definitely doesn't have high security clearance so there's no way she would have access to so much information.

'Even beyond that, let's say that I'm wrong and am simply overestimating this Slayer Legion. An organization like them would definitely need to send out tens of thousands of invitations at worst. If they didn't, they would never have the manpower they needed to match up against a behemoth.

'There are some risks that come with recruiting on such a large scale, but I doubt the Legion cares about the Empire finding out. Most of the invitations are likely smokescreens. With so many invitations likely sent, it's impossible for her to remember all of the names.

'In that case, there's another reason she's sure this invitation isn't my own. The first possibility is that invitations come with tiers of their own, this might be a high level invitation. If it is, there are probably less people who receive it, so it might indeed be possible for her to know that my name isn't on the list.

'The other possibility is my age. I'm too young. There are too many loopholes to exploit here. The Legion might not send invitations to those as young as me. It's also possible that young recruits are on a short list as well, making them easier to remember.

'Of course… The last possibility is that she's just guessing.'

Leonel found his mind running like this all the time these days. He had always been a calculating person, but his ability had amplified it several times over.

In just a split second, he had already nailed down several theories, one of which was correct. But in Leonel's mind, it simply didn't matter which was the truth. All he needed to know was that Captain Sela was trying to play mind games with him. And, in that case, he could play some games of his own as well.

Leonel smiled. "If I took this invitation from someone else and was worried about how you might react to this, why would I tell you my real name? The truth is that this invitation isn't mine, I just happened to pick it up. But, my sincerity is true."

Captain Sela's eyes narrowed. Leonel wasn't wrong. If he was a spy, he would be the most incompetent spy in history.

"… You'll be given probationary status. All Shackled members will retain this status. In the meantime, I'll take you to get your ability and strength registered."

When Captain Sela said 'Shackled', Leonel could feel her gaze shift over to his wrist watch as though it was a plague. However, toward this, he could only smile bitterly.

'Does this mean that they have a method of removing this thing?' Leonel's eyes narrowed. 'In that case, it's even more worth it to stay if for nothing else than this.'

With that, Captain Sela took Leonel to be registered, but it seemed that Leonel was destined to be unlucky.

When he wanted his abilities to be underestimated so he could fly under the radar, he was suddenly exposed as a legendary Variant. But, now that he wanted the Slayer Legion to approve of his abilities as quickly as possible so he could move up the ranks…

[*Beep*]

[Subject: Leonel Morales]

[Ability: *Name Unassigned*]

[Ability Type: Sensory]

[Ability Grade: D]

[Margin of Error: Critical]

Chapter 107 - Blind Love

Leonel felt a headache coming along. He had forgotten to take into consideration that the technology the Empire had access to versus the technology the rebels had access practically belonged to two wholly different worlds.

When Leonel first entered the Mayan Tomb, he had thought that his ability was D-grade because of his wrist watch. It wasn't until later that he realized his ability's potential was too great for such an evaluation. In fact, according to his father's dictionary, his ability was graded as a Quasi Bronze Grade ability, meaning it was on the verge of surpassing Earth's current limits. Simply put, his ability was already a half-step beyond the SSS-grade.

Unfortunately, the parts of his ability technology on this level could comprehend was too limited. It only sensed a small increase to his perception, but not much else. Other than acknowledging that there was a high amount of error, the machine didn't respond to Leonel's tears.

"D-grade, huh? Not the best, but not too horrible, I guess. As a sensory type, you'll be pretty good for scouting. We've been planning on expanding our perimeter units anyway."

Captain Sela casually spoke, not noticing Leonel's darkened expression.

"I was wondering how you managed to get here unscathed. It seems that your sensory ability should be good even amongst D-grade abilities, hm? A critical ranked margin of error, though? I've never seen this display before…"

Leonel sighed. There was nothing much he could do about this. He really hadn't used his sensory abilities to make it here. Well, he had, but not in the way Sela thought. He had even sought out opponents. The only reason he looked so clean was because of the self-cleaning function of his silver chain necklace.

Seeing that Leonel was just an average talent, the curiosity the other crewmen had toward him lessened. D-grade talents? They had too many of them. Still, it was a bit of a relief that he wasn't an F-grade talent.

It was widely known that F-grade talents were of little use. In addition, since Leonel's ability type wasn't physical, he was more useful than a usual D-grade talent as well. Overall, he was a decent addition, but nothing worthy enough for them to take time out of their busy schedules to inquire about.

"Alright." Captain Sela clapped her meaty hands together. "I'll assign you to Scout Leader Zhang. You've come at a good time, we still have a bit more things to do before we set off, so this is a good time to train new recruits."

As though trying to shoo Leonel away, Captain Sela passed off her duty of leading him to someone else.

In truth, it was already a huge show of respect for her to lead Leonel to his assessment personally. She probably saw something special in him when he faced her without fear. But it seemed now that of the two options — him being powerful versus just being ignorant — the latter was the truer statement. In that case, she had no reason to stay around him as the Captain of her own ship.

**

"You're the new recruit? Leonel Morales, is it? A sensory ability? Good, good."

The Scout Leader was quite a skinny, willowy man of average height. His body wasn't very impressive especially since he seemed to be getting on in age, but his eyes were sharp and his tongue was fast. Leonel guessed he wouldn't only be good at scouting, but would be a great undercover agent as well.

Captain Zhang spoke quickly, not allowing Leonel the chance to get in a few words for himself. Originally, he had thought that the others just thrust the new recruit to him because they all looked down on scouts. But, seeing that Leonel had a sensory ability, his mood brightened.

"Usually, those bastards in upper management just throw the useless trash to me and expect them to come out like treasures. Why those useless idiots don't understand just how good scouting can save lives is beyond me…"

Leonel was speechless. He thought that everyone was scared of Captain Sela, but this Scout Leader Zhang disparaged her without regard for even his own image.

It wasn't like Leonel was the only one here either. Even the recruits he was taunting as useless trash weren't all that far away.

As the scouting unit, they didn't have a ship of their own. Rather, they were separated between the ships. So, it could be said the Scout Leader Zhang was the only Captain-level personnel without a ship to command on his own.

Since they were currently docked, the scouting units were given a large military tent to act as their temporary base. The tent alone was at least 10 meters tall and 20 in radius. So, it was safe to say that most, if not all, of the off-duty scouts were here. But, he didn't hide his voice at all.

After ranting and praising Leonel for what seemed like hours, Captain Zhang finally passed him on to a man by the name of Malt.

"You'll be placed in Scout Leader Malt's squad. Ask him anything you want to know about. Depending on your performance, we can talk about your future prospects at a later date."

Captain Zhang gestured toward a man almost a head and a half shorter than Leonel. He seemed quite young, not even 30, but he was already balding. Despite this, he had a wide smile on his face as he happily greeted Leonel.

'… Scout Leader?' Leonel had a weird expression on his face.

Captain Zhang was called Scout Leader by Captain Sela. But now, Captain Zhang was calling someone else Scout Leader?

Malt laughed heartily and put his arm around Leonel's shoulder. It was quite a comical scene since he had to stand on the tips of his toes, but he didn't seem to mind at all.

He began to whisper in Leonel's ears as though they were already close friends.

"I'll let you in on a secret, little brother. I heard through the grapevine that Captain Sela and Captain Zhang were once quite… close. It didn't end well, apparently. So now, they're always at each other's throats and never hesitate to take subtle jabs at each other.

"Captain Zhang's biggest insecurity is that he doesn't have a ship of his own to command. But, Captain Sela always pokes like this, dropping his Captain title and calling him Scout Leader."

Though Malt continued to speak as he led Leonel toward their destination, the latter was internally shivering.

He couldn't help but remember how big and burly Captain Sela was. Then he compared that to Captain Zhang's skinny figure and his graying hair…

'What an… interesting couple…'

It seemed love really was blind.

Chapter 108 - Test

[Bonus chapter for 1400 powerstones :( ]

"… 167 meters to the northeast." Leonel spoke with confidence.

"How many of them and what's their power like?" Squad Leader Malt asked.

"There are five of them. One of them seems to be a D-grade mind control type Invalid. The other four are F-grade Invalids under its control."

Leonel's Internal Sight focused on a group of five Invalids. Four of them had what looked like leeches at the base of their skulls. The Invalid that controlled them stood in the center with tentacles coming out of her head.

In the past, Leonel would have cringed at such a sight, but he had gotten used to it by now. Those who successfully awakened usually managed to avoid any weird mutations. But, Invalids — who were essentially the ones who failed to awaken their abilities and thus lost control of their minds — weren't so lucky. Many of them had obvious deformities just like this.

Of course, those who were successful in awakening their abilities weren't guaranteed to not have mutations. But, most could hide them until their ability was needed.

For example, the metal A-grade Invalid Leonel met long ago. Had he successfully awakened his ability and not become an Invalid, he wouldn't have to walk around like a metal man all the time.

"Oof. Mind control types are the hardest to deal with. Luckily it's just a D-grade one. Good job, little brother. We'll handle it from here."

"HAHA!" A hard slap hit Leonel's back. "Great job, rookie. I'll go bash them up for you."

Leonel could only bitterly smile as Malt led a group of three toward the Invalids.

It had already been two weeks since he came to the Slayer Legion, but this was about all he had done in that time. Other than the training he did in the Segmented Cube during his personal time, he was basically just a glorified compass.

'Well… At least these guys treat me well.'

The big guy who just patted his bag went by the name Gerolt. He was part of a partnership program between the Scout Units and the Ground Combat Units. He was essentially in charge of their protection as they cleared out Invalids who got too close to the harbor.

Aside from him, the two others were an ordinary man and a young woman who looked like she was a teenager despite the fact she was apparently 30 years old. They went by Davy and Lisa respectively.

Those two were among the 'trash' Captain Zhang mentioned. They didn't have scout related abilities but were rather combat oriented. Because their abilities were relatively weak, they were slotted into the scout units.

Of course, things weren't exactly as simple as this. Before the Metamorphosis, many of the Slayer Legion's members were already present. As such, they had roles they were already very much used to. This was why even though Malt had awakened a sensory type ability, he still charged along with the others, leaving Leonel behind.

Leonel sighed watching Gerolt pull a massive mace from his back and take the vanguard. A moment later, though, he caught himself.

'Since when was it that I would rather take part in a battle than take a backseat?'

Leonel's brow furrowed slightly. It was a fleeting thought he didn't have much of a chance to linger on because the battle was already over.

Gerolt beamed, laughing jovially. In the back, Malt caressed one of his guns in a silk cloth, caring for it as though it was his own child. He wasn't acting like a man who should have been their leader at all. At this point, even the stoic Davy and the quiet Lisa were smiling.

Their days had simply been too leisurely with Leonel around. Invalids never sneaked up on them anymore, they got great and detailed reports on them before even getting close, and they hadn't met any B-grade or above Invalids. He was practically their lucky star.

"Let's return. We'll be able to report some great gains this time. I think I'll finally be able to afford the extended clip." Malt's eyes glowed like a child on Christmas day.

"Rookie, you're too good. How do you feel about joining the Ground Combat Unit?" Gerolt grinned.

"Are you trying to poach my talent? Don't even think about it." Malt growled.

Gerolt was even taller than Leonel, so there was no need to speak about just how much shorter Malt was than him. Yet, the latter didn't back down, even tapping the nozzle of his gun against Gerolt's chest.

"He's wasted here. Your Scout Unit is lacking." Gerolt didn't seem disturbed by Malt at all.

"And your Ground Dog Unit is any better? Tell me the last time you mutts were of any use?"

Gerolt snorted. "Everyone knows the ground is the core strength of an army."

"… W-we shouldn't fight." Lisa said softly.

Unfortunately, her words were completely drowned out by the roars of the two men.

"The ground is the core of an army's strength? Do you think this is the 17th century? I can name tons of units more valuable than yours without much effort! The Air Combat Unit, the Navy Combat Unit, the Research and Technology Unit, the Space Combat Unit, the —"

"You think I won't bounce my mace off that balding head of yours? Why don't you just shave it all off?" Gerolt growled.

Even if he looked a bit simple, he wouldn't just sit here and let Malt list all the units of the Slayer Legion. The fact he wanted to try was insulting enough.

"Oh, I'm so scared. Gerolt the Mace, the man who was so useless to even the shitty Ground Combat Unit wants to harm little old me. How are ground units useful in this day and age? If you tried to march to the Empire's capital, you'd get blown to smithereens before you took your second step!"

Leonel and Davy looked up at each other at the same time and shook their heads. With Lisa scurrying around like a little mouse, trying to stop the both of them, and Gerolt and Malt at each other's throats again, it seemed that only the two of them were even somewhat normal.

Suddenly, Leonel looked off toward a particular direction. His brows furrowed slightly.

'It's only an A-grade Invalid, but without knowing its ability, I can't guarantee that I can keep them safe. I had a feeling that things were going a bit too smoothly recently.'

The A-grade Invalid Leonel sensed was out of the range of his sharp Internal Sight and was within the foggy region. He could just vaguely tell its strength from this distance but nothing else. However, it was most definitely headed in this direction.

'I doubt that it's locked onto us specifically… This direction also happens to be the direction of the harbor. This is a good opportunity.'

At first, Leonel felt that it was unfortunate that he was being underestimated as this would slow his plans. But, after some more thinking, he realized that this wasn't as bad as he thought.

If he was too powerful, the Slayer Legion would always put their best foot forward in his presence. It would be easier to judge a person's character by how they treated those weaker than them.

'From what I've seen, the strongest amongst them only has a B-grade ability. An A-grade Invalid is definitely a huge threat to them, potentially catastrophic. I'll observe for a bit…'

Leonel knew by now that this was just a small portion of the Slayer Legion. They were actually here to scour the wreckage of Royal Blue Province and harvest raw materials from the collapsed structures. One could imagine that the materials used to build a city of elites were invaluable.

However, this was just the nice way to put it. They were basically just scavengers.

'Let's see how they pass this test…'

Leonel's expression returned to normal as though nothing had happened. Soon, they had returned to the harbor. It hadn't even been a minute upon their return when the warning signals began to blare.

< "Alert! Alert! A-grade Threat Detected!" >

Chapter 109 - Bear Mace

Gerolt and Malt, who had still been at each other's throats, froze on the spot.

"A-grade?"

They mumbled these words together, the fear in their eyes evident. At the same time, they felt quite lucky that they had managed to return to the harbor.

At that moment, the six Captains rushed out from their ships while the seventh, Captain Zhang, left his tent. Each began barking out orders, but it became very obvious, very quickly, that there simply wasn't much time to prepare.

"Come on, we're under Captain Sela's charge." Malt finally began acting like a Squad Leader again.

Leonel frowned. "Not Captain Zhang?"

"No. The Scouting Unit has always been separated between the ships not much unlike the Research and Technology Unit. Our squad is under Captain Sela."

Though Malt said this and they even joined up with the burly captain's group, they were pretty much no different than background characters. Malt might have been disparaging the Ground Combat Unit earlier, but they were the ones who took charge this time around.

"Hoho, is that Bear Mace Gerolt I see? Come back to seek our protection?"

A man no smaller than Gerolt seemed to have locked onto their group as they passed by. Their movements were simply too conspicuous. After all, they were rushing from the front of the harbor to the backline since they had just returned. Many eyes had been on them from the beginning. But, realizing that they were just a scouting squad, many directly ignored them.

Gerolt cast this man a glance but said nothing else. It was quite a surprise for Leonel who had just watched this man argue with Malt for the last half month. He hadn't known that this large man had the ability to not respond.

Unfortunately, the man who spoke didn't seem to take this very seriously as his hearty laughter only grew.

"Don't worry, Bear Mace. We'll take the front line for you. Wouldn't want another squad wipeout on our hands, it's best that you observe from a safe distance."

Gerolt's steps paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing. But once again, he said nothing.

The man's laughter was chorused by his squad around them, but no one else said anything. The moment was too tense. Honestly speaking, they took this as a reprieve from the looming danger. Even Captain Sela, who was present for the entire matter, didn't say anything.

Leonel frowned.

"There's a battle that's going to be happening here soon. I think it's better you focus on that rather than getting some meaningless jabs in."

For Captain Sela's troop, hearing Leonel's voice was probably the last thing they expected at this point. Many eyes couldn't help but turn toward him. However, what they saw left them furrowing their eyebrows.

He was too young. He looked too fragile. No matter how they looked at it, he was just a rookie who was getting involved in something he shouldn't have. But, at the same time, they found it hard to directly refute his words.

"… Ha, I didn't know Bear Mace had fallen so low that he needed a kid to protect him now. Boy, you should stay away from this one. He's a blight wherever he goes. There's a reason we call him —"

"I get it. Haha, very funny. Bear Mace is quite a clever nickname. Since you're clever enough to think of it, you should be clever enough to know when you should and shouldn't be saying certain things. You're a grown man, why are you acting like a petulant child?"

"Leonel."

The sudden voice of interjection made Leonel frown. All this time, Captain Sela hadn't said a word, but she was suddenly speaking now?

To the man who was the target of Leonel's barrage of words, though, she was like his saving grace. If it wasn't for the possibility of him losing too much face, he would probably bow his head and thank her at this very moment.

Leonel's gaze met hers but he didn't respond.

"That's enough." Captain Sela continued with furrowed brows.

Leonel's expression didn't have much of a change, but he was inwardly disappointed.

"I see." He said plainly. "Let's go, then."

The second part of his words were aimed toward his squad. There really wasn't much time left, they didn't have the luxury of lurking around here any longer. He had had a good impression of Captain Sela, but he didn't think that she'd be this kind of person.

He had an idea of why she had done it. To the coming battle, the ground units were too important and their mental states were even more important. Though the man's words were cruel, it also had the effect of alleviating the tension of the troops. But, after Leonel berated him, they had become high strung once more.

If Captain Sela didn't step out to protect the leader of her vanguard and show them that she was on their side, it would be difficult to calm them down again. Plus, wasn't it a small price to pay?

The man was known as Aitken was the leader of her strongest ground combat squad. As for Leonel, he was just a scout who had made a small name for himself in recent days. Who she would pick was obvious. If she could trade a tense relationship with Leonel for a stronger vanguard, why would she hesitate?

Leonel was intelligent enough to understand this. He seemed like an immature kid, but he had been leading his peers all his life. He understood the importance of mental state.

However, what he had never done was allow the disparagement of one of his own just for some cheap points. That was the sign of a terrible leader. If the upper echelon of the Slayer Legion was all like this, they were doomed from the very beginning.

"Hold on." Captain Sela's frown deepened. "I heard from Squad Leader Zhang that —"

"I don't know a Squad Leader Zhang." Leonel responded. "Could it be that you're referring to Captain Zhang?"

Captain Sela's expression grew dark.

"Kid, you should watch your mouth." Aitken growled.

"Did I say something wrong?" Leonel put on a confused expression. If it wasn't for the fact he was clearly at odds with Captain Sela now, others would really believe that he had no idea what he was saying.

"… I've heard from Captain Zhang that your scouting ability is the best we have." Captain Sela stopped Aitken from speaking anymore. "The greatest danger we face now isn't just the A-grade Invalid, but the other Invalids that might be attracted by the battle. I will need you to stay here with me to point out approaching dangers."

"Captain Sela…!"

Gerolt finally couldn't take it anymore. Leonel had stepped out for him in the first place and he had already wanted to say something earlier. But now Captain Sela wanted Leonel, who was just a little scout, to stay with the vanguard? Wasn't that just forcing him to his death?

Leonel's gaze narrowed as well.

"Are you disobeying a direct order from a Captain?" Captain Sela didn't seem to hear Gerolt at all and only continued to look toward Leonel.

"No, where would a little scout like me get such guts? I'll be counting on Captain to protect me well." Leonel said with a smile.

"Ignorance is bliss." Aitken said with a sneer.

Captain Sela gave Leonel a profound look, but said no more.

"I won't stand for this!"

Just when they all thought it was over, Gerolt swung his mace out from his back and slammed it down, causing a loud boom that finally caught the attention of the other Captains and their squads.

"Gerolt." Leonel patted him on the shoulder. "It's fine."

Others might think that Captain Sela was just targeting him, but Leonel could see through the logical flow of how things had gotten here. Maybe had he not corrected her about Captain Zhang's title, she wouldn't have reacted this way.

But, regardless, it didn't matter much to him.

An A-grade Invalid? He had killed seven even before forming a single Force Node. Plus, there wasn't any time left to argue about it.

"I'll be fine, Captain Sela will protect me. Get to the back quickly."

In the distance, the Invalid was already approaching. But, what Leonel saw made him frown slightly.

'That's not an Invalid…'

A gorilla-like creature which was two meters tall even when walking on its fists slowly approached.

Chapter 110 - Endless Fury

[Bonus chapter for 1750. If I was in Leonel's world, I'd hope for a doppleganger ability. Even if I couldn't get that... I'd settle for some extra fingers ... ]

Leonel frowned. He had just assumed it was an Invalid previously. There was something about this creature that reminded him of one.

He had originally sensed the creature with the foggy range of his Internal Sight. Due to this, he had made an error in judgment.

'Is this another beast like the octopus?'

Leonel's frown deepened. As ridiculous as it was, the appearance of the octopus was still something he could accept. After all, the Royal Blue Province was located on the coast. It wasn't impossible for such a thing to happen even if the likelihood was low.

However, a gorilla? They were too far away from their natural habitats. The chances of one appearing here should be even lower than an octopus having attacked him in the city.

"Did Captain Sela ask for you four?! Move to the back and don't ruin my formation!" Aitken roared to Malt and the rest.

"You…" Gerolt almost imploded once again.

"Soldier, get to the backline now." Captain Sela stared daggers at the scouting squad who seemed reluctant to leave Leonel's side.

Gerolt was brimming with anger. It seemed that he really might swing his mace any moment now. However, Captain Sela's next words were like a bucket of cold water being poured over his emotions.

"Are you trying to be court-martialed?"

Compared to the real army of the Empire, those of the Slayer Legion feared these words even more. They were already fugitives. If they were rejected from the rebels as well, just where would they go? What could they do with their lives? They'd basically be finished.

In a way, joining the rebel army was like giving the key to your life to another. There was no longer a way out.

Gerolt and the rest of Malt's squad became drenched in sweat. With pale faces, they could only cast guilty looks toward Leonel and slowly disappear toward the back of the formation.

"Form up!" Captain Sela roared.

At this point, the gorilla was still leisurely strolling toward their direction as though it hadn't sensed their hostility at all. It looked toward the six units of the Slayer Legion as though observing fun toys. It didn't seem to take their formations seriously at all.

Each of the six units was led by a Captain. The only one without a troop to lead of his own was Captain Zhang, but he stood beside another Captain who was a handsome man with eyes as black as his hair.

The number of warriors under each Captain didn't surpass 30 by much. But, this still meant that the gorilla was facing almost 200 alone.

The more it acted like this, the weirder Leonel felt it was. What was going on?

"Fire!"

The roar came from a woman that went by Captain Gelen. She was considered an arms specialist amongst the seven captains. In fact, Malt had once been a part of her unit before he awakened his ability and was pushed to the scouting units.

A rain of bullets came down toward the gorilla.

If it was any normal primate, their death would be sealed. However, at that moment, the carefree beast suddenly roared, standing on its hind legs and beating its chest.

A silver glow instantly coated its massive body, forming just before the bullets reached it.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The bullets rebounded as though meeting a steel wall.

Solemn expressions coated the faces of the rebels. Those were the strongest arsenal of weapons they had. Their group wasn't provided enough funds by the Legion to build Force disrupting towers. In fact, their mere existence was top secret, or else it wouldn't only be the inner city of the Fort that benefited.

Since bullets were useless, their only option was to rely on the treasures they gained from entering Zones.

"Charge!"

This time, it was Captain Sela who roared. Not giving the troops time to lose their morale, she ordered her vanguard to take the initiative.

Leonel shook his head. 'This isn't going to work. Their organization is terrible. This creature is large, but still scales well to a normal human. Attacking it with so many when its defense is so sturdy is foolish. Captain Sela sending a small vanguard forward is the smartest decision, but… they're too weak."

Aitken took the head of the charge, a tall tower shield strapped to his left all and a trident piercing forward in his right.

The gorilla retaliated fiercely, another roar leaving its lips as it lashed out at the tower shield with two hammer fists.

Aitken lowered his stance, bending his knees and exploding forward with all his strength to meet the blow.

A roar left his lips, but the subsequent sound left his ears ringing.

Aitken slid back against the ground, crashing into his squadmates and knocking them off their feet. Their forward momentum was completely thrown off and half of them lost the ability to attack in the blink of an eye.

Captain Sela's expression changed. It wasn't just her either. Even Leonel's own expression changed, albeit for different reasons.

First, this gorilla was no normal A-grade threat. It was most definitely infinitely close to the S-grade. And second… The activation of that silver barrier had caught the attention of several Invalids.

'That's impossible! The dictionary said that Invalids ignore threats from other species. What the hell is going on?'

Captain Sela and the other Captains grit their teeth to join, but Leonel stopped them.

"Captain Gelen! Captain Remon! There are three groups of Invalids coming from 2 O'Clock! The strongest of them is of the B-grade! Captain Patrice! Captain Sayer! Captain Girard! There are two groups of Invalids coming from 11 O'Clock! There are two B-grade Invalids with them!"

The voice was one many of the Captains and rebels didn't recognize. But there was something about its confidence and fullness that made them believe the words.

However, just when they were about to move according to his words, Captain Sela interrupted.

"Boy, know your place! You're sending off five squads to deal with B-grade threats and leaving just one for an A-grade threat? Are your words even trust worthy?! Charge!"

Captain Sela led a support unit toward Aitken's squad that had nearly been completely wiped out. Her words seemed to snap the other Captains awake. Those who had seen Captain Sela's conflict with Leonel earlier even thought he had done this on purpose in order to push her toward her death.

Several unsatisfied gazes landed on Leonel, leaving him shaking his head. But, before he could say anything else, Sela had stepped onto a chariot that shot out a chain toward him.

Leonel blinked toward the incredulous scene. 'What the he —"

He couldn't even finish the thought before his wrists were bound and Sela's chariot shot forward, leaving him running with all his might to keep up lest he be dragged along the ground.

Rage swelled up in Leonel's chest.

He had sent five squads away because he was confident in handling this A-grade threat on his own. Let alone using someone else's hand to kill Sela, he could do it himself with absolute ease. But now he was being accused in this way? And chained to a chariot like some sort of prisoner, no less?

Even a man with ten times the kind disposition Leonel had would feel endless fury at this point.

Chapter 111 - Forged In Fire

[I'm changing the bonus chapter requirement to every 500 powerstones. In return, I promise not to change it for another month. You can only blame yourselves for being too powerful <3]

Leonel was furious. He had never expected for such a thing to happen.

No matter how much stronger he was than Captain Sela, he wasn't at the point where he could break chains with nothing but his brawn. Even the alloys of the 25th century were beyond his means, let alone the fact that this chariot was a C-grade treasure she must have gained as a Zone reward.

'I was careless…' Leonel's gaze blazed with a cold light as he was forced to continue running.

He never thought that Captain Sela would be so brazen. She probably thought that he was trying to get her killed, which was why she had reacted like this, but at this point, Leonel didn't care. The incompetence of the Slayer Legion was turning him off from them more and more.

Aitken slammed his tower shield in the ground, trying to get a stronger foothold against the gorilla.

By now, there were only three that could remain standing in his squad, including himself. He could tell that support would be coming soon, so he was only doing his best to hold the creature back. Though he was a dick, it seemed that he wasn't a coward who left his squadmates behind.

Unfortunately, he wasn't very powerful. He seemed to have an ability that boosted the density of his muscles, but his strength was hardly over 0.80.

It was at that moment that Captain Sela came rushing in.

"Damned beast!"

Another chain came rushing out of her chariot, trying to lock the beast down.

'Idiot!' Leonel roared in his mind. Unfortunately, the next scene was bound to play out exactly as he had expected.

The chain snaked forward, wrapping around the gorilla's thick forearm just before it could launch another attack toward the squad.

Aitken looked up, pleasantly surprised. In fact, when he saw the sorry state Leonel was in, having to rush after the chariot with his hands bound like that, there was even deep satisfaction in his eyes.

Though he had been a distance away, Leonel's roar of commands had covered the entire battlefield. How could he not be enraged after Captain Sela exposed his intentions. In fact, by now, many thought that Leonel had a voice compelling ability and had long since put up their guard against him.

Seeing that the gorilla was tied down, Captain Sela's eyes brightened.

She raised a sharp broad sword with a two meter long blade from her back, hacking down with all the might she could muster.

But, she had forgotten one key detail. Tying someone down necessitated that you had a strong enough anchor. The best way to use this chariot's ability was to make use of its high maneuverability. The chain was meant to be a hidden card pulled out at an opportune time, not something to open a battle with.

Sela had managed to catch Leonel off guard and had the forward momentum of the chariot to help her keep control of him.

However, the chariot was going toward the gorilla, not away from it. And now she had shot out a chain and wrapped its forearm. She had even grown confident enough to send a direct attack. But…

Just when the Captains and soldiers were feeling excited, the gorilla slammed its free arm into the ground, roaring with all its might and swinging its bound arm upward.

'Goddammit…'

The chariot lost its footing, soaring into the air and taking Sela and Leonel along with it.

Leonel followed the arc of the chariot helplessly, both of his wrists bound together.

BANG!

The chariot crashed and skid across the ground, its bronze light dimming somewhat.

The gorilla rose to its legs, its fists beating wildly against its chest. The sound was deafening. It felt as though a sound wave was tearing their eardrums apart.

Leonel grunted, landing on the ground heavily. He rolled further and further completely out of his control.

Though his chain necklace had taken the direct strikes for him, his inner organs still stirred upon impact. And, as though that wasn't enough, the chariot he was tied to was now rolling toward him.

Leonel rolled to his back, facing his two feet toward the coming chariot in hopes of stopping it with his legs. Unfortunately, reality was cruel to him.

A ledge of the chariot got caught in the ground, causing its skid along the ground to stop in favor of it popping into the air and crashing down toward him from above.

Leonel grimaced.

Without a choice, a green light lit on the sole of his treasure shoes. He slammed down hard, sending him skidding along the ground faster and just out of the range of the chariot.

Finally, the bronze chariot slowly came to a stop, but Leonel's expression was as dark as it could be. His fury was near reaching a tipping point.

Leonel pulled at the chains on his wrist, but they still wouldn't budge. It might not have been that bad if his hands were bound individually, but with them stuck together like this, he couldn't even use a spear. And, it was obvious bullets wouldn't work on this beast.

He cast a glance toward Captain Sela who had landed in the distance. The chariot had been going at 50 kilometers an hour at least and it was obvious she didn't have a defensive treasure as good as his own. She could only rely on that thick skin and that armor she wore.

As expected, she was covered in blood and gravel. Leonel guessed that if it wasn't due to her awakening as an Evolver, she would have already died.

At this moment, the other units were still charging, having lagged behind Captain Sela's chariot. They had seen everything happen and couldn't help but look toward the gorilla in horror. However, for some reason, the gorilla only seemed to have eyes for Leonel now.

Leonel's expression turned awful. 'Could it be this thing sensed me use Force just now?'

The situation was as bad as it could get. His hands were bound, there was a chariot weighing hundreds of pounds chained to him, and now this thing had locked onto him. And, as though that wasn't enough…

"Invalids! Invalids are coming!" Captain Zhang roared.

Just as Leonel had told them before. One group at 2 O'Clock and another at 11 O'Clock. Three B-grade Invalids between them. And now they were all here.

It was at that moment that the gorilla leapt across several meters, casting a vast shadow over Leonel as it raised its two fists into the air.

Leonel ground his teeth. He had already decided. This damned Slayer Legion would have nothing to do with him after today.

**

In the distance, there was a large ship slowly swaying off the harbor. Leonel had seen it the first time he stepped onto the harbor, but he had never considered why it was that it was there and why it seemed that no one from within it had done anything despite the looming threats.

Within this massive 200 meters long wooden ship, two men stood on the deck, watching the scene unfold.

"Are we really not going to help?" One of them asked.

"This group is too incompetent. If they're not forged in fire, if they don't lose their lives today, they'll lose it at a later date. There wasn't much of a chance before the Metamorphosis for our lower level soldiers to get real fighting experience, but now we can slowly temper them…"

Chapter 112 - Unexpected

[For those who missed the annoucnement, for the month of August, DD will be transitioning to a 2 chapter a day schedule. In addition, I'll be uploading later in the day my time due to this (6pm EST) <3]

The Slayer Legion units were in shock. The gorilla directly ignoring them and jumping after the boy they saw as nothing other than a scout who overestimated himself and infuriated Captain Sela was completely out of their expectations.

"Rookie!"

Gerolt and Malt's shrill cries reached Leonel, but they were simply too far away to do anything to help. Leonel was on his own.

At that very moment, Aitken and his injured squad members were taking advantage of the gorilla being distracted to retreat as quickly as they could. It became obvious that they had no intention of stepping into those muddied waters again. Even Captain Sela's life and death was unknown at this point, why would they risk themselves for a boy who was just being so arrogant mere moments ago.

To the units of the six Captains, Leonel was essentially finished. Still, the only ones who felt even the slightest shred of remorse was Captain Zhang who brought Leonel into his unit and the four squad members he had spent the last two weeks with.

Still, none of them could do anything even if they wanted to.

However, Leonel, the person in question, watched on with a cold expression.

Timing his escape perfectly, he darted forward, leaping just out of the range of the gorilla's descending hammer fists. He pulled on his chains hard, taking advantage of the heavy chariot and his own strength to sweep the chain across the gorilla's ankles and knocking it off its feet.

Leonel jumped toward the gorilla's back as it fell, wrapping the chain that bound his wrists across its neck. He pressed his knees down on either side of the beast's spine, pulling his arms back hard.

The veins of his arms bulged and the pain of the chains pressing against his wrists was excruciating. But Leonel continued to pull, wanting to break the gorilla's neck in one move.

"ROOOOOAAARRRRR!!!!"

The gorilla bellowed, trying to lash out toward Leonel's hands.

But, Leonel shifted once more. His legs moved, sliding his knees from the gorilla's back and placing the soles of his feet flush against the beast's triceps.

He stamped down hard, pulling up with his arms as though he was trying to stand up, but the chains across the gorilla's neck were stopping him from doing so.

It seemed that the gorilla was finished. The control Leonel had over its neck was commanding. If it wasn't for its sturdy body, it would have already lost its head. But, the beast hadn't given up.

With another roar that made Leonel's ears ring, a familiar silver light coated the beast's body. In that moment, the soft flesh of the gorilla's neck became harder than steel. Leonel knew immediately that it had become impossible to break its neck anymore.

'There must be a short duration for this ability, or else it wouldn't be turning it on and off like this. We'll see how long you can last!'

Unfortunately, the gorilla didn't give Leonel the time. The moment it got the slightest bit of reprieve, it rolled to its back, trying to crush Leonel with his heavy weight.

Without a choice, Leonel could only leap away. A normal gorilla wasn't even 400 pounds, so Leonel was confident in outlasting the beast. However… He knew quite well that this wasn't a normal gorilla.

After being freed, the gorilla felt a deep sense of humiliation that fueled its rage. In those moments, it had felt the call of death. It had really almost died at the hands of a puny human boy.

It rose up, lashing out with its fists toward Leonel, but the cold glint it found on the latter's face left it shivering.

Leonel yanked the chain around his wrists again. In all its rage, the gorilla failed to realize that when it had rolled to get Leonel off its back like that, it had inadvertently wrapped the chain around itself loosely. This time when Leonel pulled, it was no longer as simple as tripping it. This time, its legs were tightly bound together, causing it to fall over once more.

Leonel took hold of the opportunity, dashing to the side and picking up the two meter long broadsword Captain Sela had lost control of when the chariot went flying. It was impossible for him to use a spear properly, but it was easier to use a two-handed weapon with his hands bound like this.

By the time he brandished it, the gorilla had stood once more. Its eyes focused on Leonel with a crimson red, its snarls throwing hot air and flying spittle from its sharp canines. Its teeth glistened beneath the high sun almost like the tusks of a wild boar.

Their gazes clashed in the air before they dashed forward in unison.

Leonel didn't know how to use a sword. But, he hadn't known how to use an ax back then either. However, what he did know were two things.

First, the gorilla's attack pattern was too simple. And, secondly, its shield ability couldn't be abused. Better yet, this shield ability had just been used.

Leonel's figure was nimble. The faint shadow of the succubus spearwoman could be seen in his movements.

He flitted around like a ghost, ducking out of the range of the gorilla's fist.

Appearing to its side, his broad sword flashed forward, leaving afterimages in the air as it aimed for the gorilla's arm.

CLANG!

It chipped and rebounded off of the silver light, but Leonel's movements didn't pause. He madly circled the gorilla, dodging and striking whenever he got the chance.

The haggard breaths and enraged roars of the gorilla rang over the battlefield.

Suddenly, the silver energy shield flickered and Leonel's cold, calculating gaze blazed to life as he stepped forward like lightning.

The broad sword pierced forward completely unlike a sword. Despite the weapon in his hands being as clear as day, for just a moment, to those observing, it felt that it wasn't a sword in his hands at all… but rather, a spear.

PCHUUU

The sword shot through the gorilla's neck. It had such a wide blade that the gorilla's collarbone and forehead were pierced in unison.

Thud.

With a dull sound, the gorilla fell, leaving Leonel standing over it expressionlessly.

His unkempt dirty blond hair was kicked up by the wind caused due to the beast's fall, waving about like a flowing river. His breathing was steady and unhurried. It was almost impossible to tell he had just been through a battle if not for the dead gorilla lying before him.

The battlefield was so silent the drop of a pin could be heard. They had all watched it from start to finish, but even having witnessed it themselves, they couldn't believe it. Even Aitken felt his knees trembling. Just what had he provoked?

However, it was then that something unexpected occurred.

The gorilla began to shrink. Soon, there was nothing left but a naked man who died with his eyes wide open.

Chapter 113 - A Man

'A man…?' Leonel's pupils constricted.

He finally understood. The Invalids had been drawn here by this man's silver shield ability. Back then, Leonel had been confused, wondering why it was that they had been when the dictionary had told him earlier that Invalids wouldn't antagonize creatures from another race.

'Is it that man from the Brazinger family again?'

Leonel frowned, spreading his Internal Sight to the max. If Simeon was here, it would be a good opportunity to deal with him.

According to the dictionary, Simeon had some sort of gene manipulation ability that fell into the SS-grade. There was a chance that this man was another one of his experiments…

Of course, it was also possible that this gorilla form was just this man's ability. After all, Leonel used his own ability all the time but never attracted Invalids unless he used Force. If he thought about it, it also made sense if this man's transformation was his ability while the silver light was some sort of Force technique.

'Am I overthinking it…? Is he not involved?'

Leonel raised his head and swept a glance over the Slayer Legion units. Just the simple act made them feel as though their chests would burst from the thumping of their hearts.

At that moment, the Invalids led by B-grade threats had entered the range of the battlefield. Leonel had finished off the gorilla so quickly that there wasn't even an opportunity for them to influence the battle. However, Leonel didn't even cast them a glance. Was it even his problem anymore?

If they couldn't handle three B-grade Invalids on their own, could they even count themselves as a rebel army? Plus, Leonel wasn't a pushover even if he had a kind heart. After seeing Captain Sela's ridiculous actions, none of them stepped forward to say something, let alone help him.

'I guess I was expecting too much from them. What could an organization that's done nothing but lose to the Empire for decades possibly have to offer. It's better if I just hone my Force Crafting and clear Zones as well. It won't take me more than a year to have enough trump cards to deal with the Junior Governor Duke and that man from the Brazinger Clan. Then I can go and find Aina…'

Having already made up his mind, Leonel ignored the cries of the rebel units and walked to the chariot that had bound him. Soon, he looked through the mechanisms and found what he needed to release the chains from his hands.

Leonel sighed, rubbing his bruised wrists. 'I was too reckless this time. If I had been prepared for anything, I wouldn't have gotten caught like that.'

In the end, he was too inexperienced and had grown too confident. It was fine to be confident, but it had to come from a place of knowledge and strength. Leonel had the strength, but he was still lacking in knowledge.

In this world, there were too many unique abilities and treasures he had to account for, getting caught off guard would happen frequently. The only way to perfectly combat this would be to be cautious. If he had been, there was no way a mere Captain Sela could put him in such a situation.

Leonel looked around again to find the rebel units fighting for their lives against the B-grade Invalids. Sometimes, pleading gazes would meet his own, making him feel guilty. In the end, he was still a bit soft and couldn't completely harden his heart. Ultimately, these people had been misled by Captain Sela. He didn't want to leave them hanging.

'Fine, fine. Whatever.'

Leonel took out his atlatl and three darts from his spatial bracelet. Killing B-grade threats was as easy as breathing for him. Three Invalids, three darts, three throws and three deaths. It was that simple.

As for the C-grade and lower Invalids, this time, he really did leave it to them.

At that moment, the weakened Captain Sela struggled to stand. Her left arm was bent at an unhealthy angle and a side of her face seemed to have skidded along the ground and was thus ruined by severe cuts, burns and blood, but she stood nonetheless.

She had no idea what had just happened and couldn't even see the gorilla any longer. All she saw was Leonel standing on her chariot.

In truth, Leonel was planning on leaving now. He just could have never imagined that instead of treating her injuries properly, this Captain Sela would actually come to find trouble with him in her half-dead state.

"Get away from my chariot!" She snarled.

Leonel cast a glance at her and shrugged, leaping off the chariot and turning to leave. However, completely out of Captain Sela' expectations, his destination wasn't the harbor where it was far safer, but rather back into the ruined city. It was obvious that he was intending to leave.

"You… Where do you think you're going?"

Leonel didn't have any intention of answering, so he just kept walking. Why would he even bother to stay here? This Slayer Legion was nothing but a joke. Their Captains were fools, their fighting strength was weak, and as if this wasn't enough, they apparently didn't have issues targeting their own men.

An organization rotting from the inside-out like this didn't deserve his effort. It seemed that Earth really had nothing left for him.

It was a thought he never thought he would have, but now it was as firm as a lighthouse in a dark, foggy night.

'They might still have some use.' Leonel thought. 'In the small likelihood that that man was one of his experiments and he finds out it was taken out in this harbor… he might send more to investigate. In that case, I can find out a bit more about this Brazinger family.'

Leonel's gaze grew frosty. If it wasn't for them, he would have never been separated from Aina.

"… Do you think that the Slayer Legion is a joke?! You think it's possible to join one day and leave the next?! Why aren't you all doing anything?!"

Hearing this question, many looked at Captain Sela with weird gazes. He just took down an A-grade threat with his hands bound. Then he took down three B-grade Invalids with three flicks of his wrist. Do something about it? Wasn't that the real joke?

Leonel's footsteps paused.

Of course, it had absolutely nothing to do with Captain Sela. She could scream ten times harder and he still wouldn't listen to her ramblings. The reason he stopped was because a man had suddenly appeared before him. And, though he didn't know it, this was the very same man who had been observing the battle from the large ship in the distance.

Though Leonel didn't know this, he had seen how this man got here with his Internal Sight. He rode the waves of the water with his bare feet then launched himself here… Yet, the process was so quiet that no one but Leonel seemed to notice his actions at all.

"It seems I will have to reward you with a promotion, Captain Sela. When you sent a report that a recruit came in with a stolen invitation card, I hadn't thought much of it. But it seems that your intuition was right. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have never thought that this kid was a spy.

"I should have known… A critical margin of error wouldn't appear without reason."

Chapter 114 - Real Tears

Leonel cocked an eyebrow. There was something weird about this situation. It was missing the edge it should have, or maybe it was something else he couldn't quite put his finger on.

However, Leonel had already suffered once today from not being cautious enough. He had no intention of making the same mistake twice. Instead, he silently observed, his senses primed to their peak. He seemed to be relaxed, but there wasn't a single detail within 200 meters of him that he missed.

Captain Sela's eyes flashed with happiness when she heard the man's words. As a Captain, of course she knew who this man was.

"Make things a bit easier on yourself, young man. Don't resist and come with me."

"… It's no wonder you all have never stood a chance against the Empire."

Even in the 25th century, there were certain offensive things one should never say. Racial slurs, culturally insensitive phrases, ignorant and uninformed statements… However, even among all of these things, maybe saying such a thing amongst a field of rebels was amongst the worst.

At that point, even the carefree man who had just rode a wave to block Leonel's path had a stiff expression. If Leonel could read the man's mind, he might have felt a little bad.

The truth was that this man hadn't come here to make trouble for Leonel. He had said those things, but that was only to keep up a certain facade. He had good reasons for treating Leonel the way he did and if the boy just cooperated a little bit, he would know the reasons why in just a few moments.

But this boy just had to go and say these things. Why was he so brazen? Doesn't he know that he's surrounded by 200 people? Even if he took down the gorilla, he would die meeting such a large group as long as there was one person near his battle strength. As far as the man was concerned, Leonel could at best match him. In that case, getting into a fight with their group would only lead to his death.

'… Ah, dammit, kid. How am I supposed to continue now? If I don't respond with anger, those with eyes here will get suspicious. But, if I do fight you, how can we end this peacefully? Dammit, dammit.'

At this point, the man realized he had acted a bit too rashly. He should have approached with a better plan, but this was the best he could do in such a short time.

If he waited any longer, Leonel would have left. After Leonel left, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't be secretly watched by others. In this case, it would be even more suspicious if he tried to meet him in secret.

Even if by some miracle he managed to successfully meet Leonel after he left without alerting anyone else, there was no guarantee that he would be able to sneak Leonel back like he wanted to.

This should have been the perfect opportunity. He should have been able to 'arrest' Leonel while showing favoritism he shouldn't have. Then, he would have been able to 'imprison' him and thus gain a perfect excuse for why Leonel was with them.

In this way, those keeping an eye on the rebels would underestimate them more, thinking that their leaders were trash for getting rid of a talent like Leonel for short term benefits. And, at the same time, they would be able to secretly bring Leonel to their side and gain yet another hidden trump card.

Everything was so perfect, but this boy was displaying too much confidence which left the man uneasy. Suddenly, something that should have been a simple task became incredibly difficult and there was no longer a path for him to take it easy on Leonel.

'Damned hot blooded kids and their damned pride, fuck.'

With no other choice, the man's face twisted into a feigned rage.

"Kid, you sure have a big mouth." He growled. "Remember this well, I am Lieutenant Damian Warner. Today, I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents!"

Leonel's expression darkened.

He couldn't read the man's mind. Even if he found this situation weird, he tossed all thoughts of finding out what was wrong after hearing such words. His dad had disappeared to who knows where, but that didn't give this man the right to comment on it.

Leonel's aura grew heavy, the silver pole of his bike appearing in his hands.

Damian realized that there was something wrong with the atmosphere almost immediately, but by the time he realized he might have said something wrong, the blunt tip of Leonel's rod was already before him.

'Shit, shit, shit!'

This speed, this technique, this strength. Each and every one was far beyond Damian's expectations. He felt as though a whole world was bearing down on him and that no matter what he did, he wouldn't be able to dodge.

The shadow of a spear was projected into his mind. He couldn't help but think… 'If this was a spear, wouldn't I be dead now?'

Damian quickly crossed his arms, taking the brunt of Leonel's strike with his forearms.

BANG!

Without suspense, he was sent flying. It wasn't until he had moved back almost ten meters that the ground beneath him suddenly 'awakened', stretching up into the skies like a wave and catching him like a soft pillow.

Leonel's eyes narrowed. 'It seems his ability isn't as simple as water control. This is an S-grade power at worst, and I still feel like I'm underestimating it.'

Leonel was using his rod instead of his spear because he wanted to separate himself from the influence of his Spear Domain Lineage. He felt that his comprehension of his Lineage Factor was too weak and that the only way to find out exactly what made it tick was by comparing his abilities with it and without it. In addition, he felt that he didn't need his Lineage Factor to defeat this man.

However, this ability put quite a bit of pressure on him. He had only seen a small glimpse of it, but he saw endless possibilities. If this man was even somewhat competent, he too should be able to handle A-grade threats just as easily as Leonel did.

What Leonel didn't know was that the man's expression was growing gloomier and gloomier. Having sensed Leonel's strength, he realized that taking him in like this would be even more difficult. As if things weren't bad enough… His arms were broken.

'This little devil. No wonder he embarrassed Royal Blue Fort and the Leum family like that. Who created this little monster?'

Damian's arms hung limply to his side, wanting to shed real tears when he saw Leonel charging toward him again.

Chapter 115 - Not Trash?

Leonel's speed was beyond the limits of a mortal. However, with his experience in martial arts, Damian realized that it wasn't as simple as pure pace. There was something odd about the rhythm of Leonel's steps that made him seem even faster than he was, as though he was approaching from all sorts of impossible angles at once.

'How is this possible? I've immersed myself in martial arts for decades, why can't I match up against a little boy?!'

Damian roared in his mind, but he realized that he couldn't allow this to continue in this fashion and for so long at that. However, what he didn't know was that Leonel was disappointed by his performance.

'I'm still missing something, she was far better than this.'

However, as soon as this calculative thought appeared in Leonel's mind, it was thrown out. This wasn't because it was wrong, but rather because he was pissed.

First this Slayer Legion was incompetent to the point they rated his ability within the D-grade. Then he was targeted by one of their Captains without reason. To make matters worse, that captain had actually tried to kill him.

All of this was already enough to push someone to the edge. But, as though they wanted to make sure he was aware of just how worthless this organization was, this prick had appeared and actually mentioned something about teaching him a lesson in place of his father?

In what felt like the blink of an eye Leonel had appeared before Damian, his body sinking into a low crouch that concentrated all the torque of his hips toward the ground and rebounded it back up toward his piercing rod.

It was a beautiful synchronization of the primitive man's body control and the primitive woman's speed.

Damian fell back, a fluid pillar of earth appearing before him and Leonel.

As though expecting this, Leonel's steps shifted. His body flitted across the air, leaving shadows in the wake as his slid to Damian's side, only to find another wall of earth waiting for him.

'These walls aren't solid. In order to move them, he's sacrificing the sturdiness of the earth. But since he can't manipulate material without negatively influencing its rigidity, how is it that he could ride a wave like that?'

Leonel didn't dare to come in contact with Damian's wall of Earth, he could only continuously avoid it. Who knew if this was Damian's ploy? If he entered the seemingly fluid earth and Damian solidified it, it would be too late to regret it.

Even as Leonel felt that he was getting a headache trying to deal with Damian's ability, Damian himself was in an even sorrier state.

His arms weren't broken to the point of suffering a clean snap, but there were most definitely several fractures. Regardless, his arms were as good as useless.

Now, with his arms in this state, he couldn't use weapons. And, even if he could, he didn't want to draw a gun on Leonel lest he accidentally kill the kid. How could he know that Leonel didn't have to worry about bullets due to his Quasi Bronze chain necklace?

Leonel frowned, retreating explosively only to find a wall of fluid earth blocking his path backward.

'Not good.'

Completely out of expectations, instead of continuing to retreat, Leonel firmly planted and shot forward with everything he had. At this point, even Damian was caught off guard. He had thought that Leonel would continue to run, trying to escape the range of his abilities.

However, while Damian was trying to end this peacefully, Leonel still believed this was a battle he might lose his life in. In such a case, he wouldn't take a chance on guessing where Damian's range ended.

If the range was within ten meters, Leonel might be able to escape. But, if it was ten times that, Leonel would be trapped and then his life would be in the hands of another.

However, if he was as close to Damian as possible, he wouldn't trap himself, right? There was no guarantee the Damian didn't have another way to escape, but between the two options, Leonel's calculative mind quickly deduced that this had the least risk.

Damian's eyes flashed. At that moment, the land Leonel was running on suddenly began to sink.

But, as though having already thought of this possibility, Leonel's expression didn't even change.

With a thought, his soles glowed green once more as he stamped down hard, sending him flashing to the side once more.

Damian's eyes widened in surprise, not catching why it was that Leonel seemed unaffected by the swamp-like ground. Leonel hadn't jumped high into the air before using his treasure shoes this time, so their effect was extremely low profile this time around.

Still, Damian was experienced in combat and reacted quickly, erecting another wall of fluid earth after judging Leonel's landing location. But, he suddenly felt uncomfortable when he saw Leonel's lip curl.

Leonel, who had just been in the air, shouldn't have been able to change his direction at all. By all rights, it should have been impossible. But, in that moment, another green light flashed from Leonel's other shoe and he suddenly took a sharp turn that seemingly defied the laws of physics.

Damian hardly registered what had happened when Leonel had shot through a gap in his walls of earth.

He panicked, trying to quickly close them down into a cage. But, it was too late.

Leonel's foot slammed into his chest, pushing him to the ground. Damian's vision spun and by the time he could see again, he felt a cold rod pressing against his throat.

From the outside, all the rebels saw was a half-sphere of fluid earth. Leonel and Damian were completely blocked from their view, but they still were left stunned.

This sort of battle, had it really been between two humans? Even if it wasn't as exaggerated as the earth splitting and sky shattering, it was still enough to leave them in awe. Captain Sela especially felt as though a lump had been firmly lodged in her throat.

This sort of battle prowess… D-grade? Which bullshit engineer built the machine that said his ability was D-grade?!

"Wait! Wait! Wait!"

What the rebels could have never expected was that the Lieutenant Damian they all respected so much had put his hands up in surrender. Leonel had his silver rod on his throat and a foot on his chest, was it really possible for him to do anything else but this?

Leonel frowned. The smartest thing to do would be to apply pressure and break through Damian's throat now, but he hesitated hearing his words.

Damian sighed in relief seeing that Leonel didn't act to kill him immediately.

"I know you're angry with me, but I had to do things this way so that you could join without attracting the eyes of others."

The lieutenant obviously didn't want to play with his life anymore so he immediately got to the point.

Leonel frowned. Could it be that the Slayer Legion wasn't as useless as he thought? However, he had no intention of releasing Damian so easily. His ability was too powerful. If he was a bit more experienced with it, Leonel would have been finished. This encounter truly taught Leonel the terror of abilities.

"Keep speaking. I won't release you until I hear something worthwhile. You better be quick as well. If we stay here for too long, your plan will fail even if you convince me."

Chapter 116 - Fishy

Damian bitterly smiled. Of course he understood what Leonel meant. If they remained in here for too long, no matter how convincing their previous act was, it would become suspicious. In that case, it wouldn't matter if he convinced Leonel to play along.

"There's not much I can tell you." Damian said through gritted teeth. "But I think you're smart enough to know why this is the approach we must take. The more competent we seem, the more attention the Empire will pay to us and the less chance we'll have in the long run."

Leonel had already thought as much, but this wasn't enough to convince him of anything.

"Do you think that the Empire is stupid? I doubt they're unaware that this is a facade."

"It doesn't matter if they know, they'll still underestimate us. A vague threat will always be taken less seriously than a tangible one. As long as they don't know the true extent of our depths, it'll be easier for them to neglect us."

Damian was trying to speak quicker and quicker, not wanting to give up this chance. If they could take in Leonel secretly, this would be great.

"I assume by your words that you know who I am? Unless you were really crazy enough to try this stunt after seeing the small bit I showed?"

Damian's lip twitched. 'Small bit'? How much more was there? He was already in this state!

"Yes, I know that you're Leonel Morales and know that you're a Variant. In addition, I also know of what happened at the Fort."

"Good, that makes things easier. I'll agree to join and help your Slayer Legion as long as you support me to take down Royal Blue Fort within half a year and you help me take this damned wrist watch off. If you say yes, I'll let you take me out of here as your 'prisoner'."

Damian's expression changed.

This matter was simply too big. It wasn't that they didn't want to take down the Fort. In fact, if they were willing to pay a small price, it wasn't impossible to take the Fort down even without Leonel's help. The issue was that it wasn't worth it.

The Slayer Legion still wasn't ready to appear boldly in the real world just yet, so what good was the Fort to them? It would do nothing but make them an immobile and vulnerable target.

In addition, the Governor Duke, the true powerhouse of the Royal Blue Province, wasn't here. So, at best you'd be taking down his son who hadn't even really grown into a man yet. This was another reason why it wasn't worth it.

"I know what you're thinking." Leonel said expressionlessly. "But, is it really as you're thinking? You're on this expedition right now to scavenge the broken pieces of fallen buildings… Wouldn't it be much better to directly snatch the technology of the Royal Blue Fort?"

Damian's eyes suddenly shone bright at these words. If it was looked at from this angle… it was indeed possible.

The truth was that he had quite a bit of freedom when it came to what exactly to do with this group. Their value wasn't very high to the Slayer Legion and they were essentially here just to train and hopefully become useful in the future. If he wanted to attack the Fort, he could make the decision alone…

Taking a deep breath, Damian's eyes sharpened with resolution.

"I can't make the decision to remove your Shackle, but I can agree to attack the Fort with you after some more preparation. But, since you're such a high profile recruit, it will be necessary for you to gain a more… thorough clearance."

Leonel paused for a while, looking at Damian quite intently. It was to the point the latter couldn't help but squirm.

"Alright. I hope you keep your word."

Damian sighed a breath of relief when Leonel finally removed his rod and foot from his body.

On the outside, the rebels were quite anxious. They had no idea that such a conversation was happening. Everyone one of them believed that an intense battle was taking place within that cage of earth.

When the fluid earth finally began to crumble, they all held their breaths before bursting into a chorus of cheers.

Damian stood at the front, proudly walking with Leonel's rod in one hand and a rope formed of fluid earth in his other. Attached to the end of this rope were Leonel's bound hands. He stalked forward slowly like the prisoner he was.

No, actually, upon closer inspection, his feet were bound as well. He was only moving because their lieutenant was sliding him across the ground with his ability. How magical.

That was their lieutenant! He was so powerful!

Captain Sela felt as though a weight had been lifted from her chest and she couldn't help but smirk. Though, since half her face was covered in bloody, burnt and peeling skin, she looked even more unattractive than she usually did.

Damian smiled brightly. "Captain Sela, for your role in this you'll definitely be rewarded well. It might not be impossible for you to become a Colonel."

Captain Sela felt giddy with excitement. She put on an expression that might have been adorable on a 5 year old girl but looked simply ridiculous on her before she sent a sneer Leonel's way.

Leonel, however, had his head down, his eyes aimed toward the ground. Beneath his drooping hair, his calm, calculating gaze was hidden.

In the distance, Gerolt, Malt, Lisa and Davy clenched their fists tightly. They didn't know what all this spy talk was about, but they did know that Leonel had saved them all not just once, but twice. First with the A-grade threat and then by taking out the three B-grade Invalids.

Even beyond this, his ability had saved them who knows how many times during their rounds. It was just that he was so good they never ran into trouble so even they didn't have an exact number…

However, they were too weak. There was nothing they could do to help him.

In the end, they had known Leonel for too little time. They were unable to bring themselves to risk everything for his sake. And, even if they did try to… What exactly could they accomplish?

Of course, the person in question, Leonel himself, wasn't bothered by such things. He was an understanding person for the most part, so he wouldn't hold grudges for something like this. It was only as simple as that their friendship would likely never deepen beyond this surface level.

That said, Leonel wasn't even actively thinking about such things. He wasn't even aware of their complicated feelings.

At this moment, his Internal Sight was completely focused on the corpse of the man, turned gorilla, turned back to man. He wanted to check on as many clues as he could at the 'crime scene' before things were moved around.

Something still felt fishy about the whole thing.

Chapter 117 - Little Slave

A long while later, Leonel had been escorted by Damian to the large ship in the distance. There, there was surprisingly another man waiting. What was surprising wasn't the fact that there was such a man, but rather that he was quite literally the only other member on board.

That was right, a ship of 200 meters in length, rivaling any luxury yacht, was accommodating just two men… How did this work, exactly?

'It can't be that Lieutenant Damian can use his ability to move such a large ship… right?'

Leonel felt his heart skip a beat. If this was true, it likely meant that it was easier for Damian to control water as opposed to earth. In that case, if the latter had any evil thoughts, even Leonel wouldn't be able to do much about it.

However, even after thinking to this point, Leonel remained calm. The reason was precisely his previous run-in with the octopus. He couldn't imagine what kind of powerful creatures were lying in wait in the depths of the ocean right now. Even in the 25th century, Earth still didn't know everything about its waters.

With the threat of him releasing his Force, Damian wouldn't likely dare to act rashly. Plus, Leonel believed that the lieutenant was being sincere. Leonel believed himself to be quite good at reading people, even his own best friend of over a decade couldn't fool him at a critical juncture, let alone Damian who he was especially cautious of.

"… I can't take it anymore!"

Damian's voice snapped Leonel out of his thoughts even as the fluid earth wrapped around the latter's wrist and ankles fell with a 'plop'.

The lieutenant's face paled, his arms falling and trembling to his side. It was only now that Leonel remembered that this guy probably had numerous fractures in his forearms. It was a wonder he had been able to keep up the act for long.

"What are you standing around for?! Hurry up and heal me! This kid is a little devil."

Damian had completely lost his noble air. He looked no different from a little boy complaining to his big brother, a sight that left Leonel rather speechless. He had always wanted a little sibling since he was an only child, but he felt like changing his mind after seeing this.

Leonel had only barely had this thought when he realized that the man Damian was speaking to actually resembled him quite a bit. Could they actually be brothers?

They were about the same height, had the same sandy tanned skin, and both had deep brown eyes.

After appeasing Damian, the second man walked forward and smiled amiably.

"I'm Vice Commander Joseph Warner, it's nice to meet you."

'Same last name? So they are indeed brothers…'

Leonel smiled in return. "Leonel Morales. What exactly is it that you two want me to do? I'd like to make something clear first. Though I'm alright with collaborating with Slayer Legion to take down Royal Blue Fort, I have yet to decide to join you all longterm."

Joseph raised an eyebrow and looked toward his younger brother. They had just gotten here, so he obviously hadn't had the opportunity to learn what Leonel's requests were.

Soon, he learned of everything and fell into pensive thought.

"… Taking down the Fort would indeed be a good opportunity. In addition, we might be able to recruit some fresh blood as well. I'm certain that there are many common folk who are unsatisfied with the Junior Governor Duke's actions."

"I was surprised." Leonel suddenly interjected. "I thought it would be harder to convince you two to attack the Fort. Why is it easier for you to agree to this in comparison to helping me remove this wrist watch?"

Joseph and Damian looked at each other and smiled.

"You're new to the Slayer Legion, but you've probably already seen that things aren't what they appear on the surface. Most of our public appearances are just facades. For now, we haven't truly formed up.

"Lieutenants and above have quite a bit of freedom at our current stage. You can almost consider us like ancient time generals who can take action without consulting with our king first. This gives us greater flexibility and better adaptability. Since this region is the territory we oversee, whether to attack the Fort or not is entirely up to us two brothers.

"However… the wrist watch is a special case. The secrets behind how to remove it are tightly guarded by the highest echelons of our Slayer Legion."

Leonel's lips curled. "Shouldn't you be giving me a speech about how noble your cause is and that you would stop at nothing to end the Empire's tyranny? Why are you so blatantly exposing that you're hoarding such important secrets to yourselves?"

Joseph laughed. "No one is so noble. While it's true that we don't agree with the paths the Empire has taken and do believe that we have the higher moral authority, we aren't angels either.

"Like all organizations, we need a hierarchy, we need incentives, we need our people to have goals to strive for. This is the only way."

Leonel quite appreciated Joseph's attitude. He had expected to find some cliche, die-hard rebels with tragic backstories that were worth the tears of all the women in the world, but what he actually found was much more real. Though these two brothers might still have faced some sort of tragedy in their past, at least for now, it wasn't important.

After thinking this far, Leonel nodded internally. The trouble with taking this watch off wasn't just how sturdy it was. Though the material was hard, there were many things that could still destroy it. The trouble was finding something that could destroy it without taking his hand and most likely his arm along with it. That was much more difficult.

"Alright, that's enough of that. My brother made the right decision, taking on the Fort is a good opportunity and will provide us with far more rewards than what scavenging these broken buildings can. But, we'll need to wait for the rest of our team to get back before we can start planning something like this."

"Rest of your team?" Leonel's brows raised with interest.

"Yes. They're the main force of my brother and I, they can be considered to be the true elites of our Division. But, right now they're training themselves in several Zones. Of course, we've already had a few clashes with the Fort over Zone entries as well."

Leonel couldn't help but be quite confused at these words. Did Sub-Dimensional Zones only appear on land? What about the vast ocean? Was there a need for them to fight over Zones on land if there was so much vast space on the ocean?

"It's about time we report in anyway. They should be back in a half a month to a month at most. After that, we'll have to go back to base and report our progress like we do every half year. You can take that opportunity to learn a bit more about us. We really are the best option for a fugitive like yourself."

Leonel inwardly chuckled. This was somehow both the best and worst pitch meeting imaginable. Ultimately, Joseph was right. He was nothing but a fugitive. Where else could he go if not to them?

"That said… In the meantime, you'll have to help us put on a little show."

Leonel had a bad feeling when he heard Damian's words and saw his evil smile. He looked like a man excited to finally get his revenge.

Damian took out a collar from who-knows-where. Leonel couldn't help but shiver when he saw arcs of electricity coursing through two small silver plates hidden on its inner lining.

"It can't be…" Leonel's jaw clenched.

"Don't run away little brat, you really made me suffer before." Damian's grin grew wider. "You just need to obediently act like a little slave for a small while."