Leonel could feel the thrumming of his heart.
In this world, the strongest creatures were, without a doubt, the Celestial Embers. It was only natural. This was their world.
But it seemed that it was time to show them that before Scarlet Star Force, all other Fire Forces had no choice but to bow down.
Leonel took a step forward, and Blackstar leapt into the air. With a roar, the little mink suddenly erupted with a dense black fog. In an instant of time, he had become a looming beast.
Leonel took another step and appeared on Blackstar's back. His Force rolled around him in waves.
In the distance, three Celestial Embers opened their beaks, and their throats suddenly pulsed.
In that moment, three lasers of golden red peeled across the skies with such speed they seemed to be bolts of lightning.
In a moment, they had already torn across several kilometers, appearing before Leonel in the blink of an eye.
Leonel took a breath, and the air around him solidified.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
His arm moved in a blur, and he slashed against the three lasers. Sparks flew and a rain of fire fell from the skies. But a dome of protection seemed to have been perfectly formed around Leonel.
His heart was clear, and his goal was even clearer.
His spear spun in his arms and, with a sweep, the world was split horizontally in two.
A scythe cut through the air and solidified even more than the lasers. In fact, in that moment, the flying laser sparks were sucked into it as though it was a void, powering it and accelerating it forward.
In one moment, Leonel had just slashed out, and in the next, the three Celestial Embers froze in the skies before mournful cries echoed.
Their bodies split in two, blood raining down.
Leonel's gaze flashed with a dense coldness. He was going to cover this realm in blood.
...
News of Leonel's carnage was quickly being spread. In not even an hour, he had already killed dozens of Ninth Dimensional monsters, and not once did he hide himself.
It was as though he was announcing himself to the world. If they wanted to harm him, they would have to stop treating him like a Sixth Dimensional expert, and even less like a Human.
However, the Alliance of Owlans and Beasts, that had gotten used to Leonel suddenly vanishing after turning a battlefield or two upside down, realized that he wasn't just going to fade off into the night this time. He seemed to truly want to wipe everything out.
...
Leonel sat on a mountain, his breathing heavy, but even. Winds howled around him every time he took a breath.
Sweat beaded down his brows and fell like booming meteors. Craters drenched the surrounding land.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
DOOM. DOOM. DOOM.
The land shook for thousands of kilometers.
In the distance, a single Celestial Terra was moving forward.
Leonel scanned it, but felt that he couldn't see through its depths. It was truly a monstrous existence, but this didn't seem to be because it was too unfathomable for him.
The longer Leonel looked, the more he came to understand that this Celestial Terra was actually in the Seventh Dimension, and yet it seemed to likewise be the strongest existence he had come across until now.
'This Race truly has some secrets, but this is also amusing. Are they sending a junior after me in an attempt to prove a point? But if they were so confident, why send one in the Seventh Dimension and not the Sixth? Unless they thought I wouldn't be able to see through it?'
Even with his Wise Orders, it took Leonel several seconds to see through the Celestial Terra, when usually a single glance would be enough. It's not surprising that they would think that he couldn't see through it.
Leonel's gaze flashed with contempt. This was all just speculation, but if it was true, his respect for the Celestial Terras would take a huge down swing.
Slowly, he stood to his feet.
"Not this time, Blackstar. I'm going hunting alone."
Leonel took a step and appeared high in the air. Despite how high he was, his feet were just barely above the eye level of the Seventh Dimensional Celestial Terra.
The creature looked as though it was carrying a mountain on its back... no, even that didn't quite do it justice. It was more like it was carrying an entire mountain range.
Its face was hard to spot because it looked like a mountain of rock as well.
But when it opened its eyes, Leonel saw the most beautiful swirls of brown he ever had in his entire life. It was like an artist had perfectly curated every masterful stroke. The different shades of brown from the palest tan to the deepest bronzes started from its pupils and stretched out, writhing almost like a group of serpents dancing.
And yet these beautiful brown eyes carried a bone-chilling coldness.
At that moment, plumes of smoke began to come from the soles of Leonel's feet and the corners of his eyes. Tattoos roared to life across his body and a pair of sweats with tufts of fur poking out from its waistband took shape.
Golden braces of fire flickered to life around his ankles and wrists, the former rattling with clear DINGING sounds as they swayed in the wind.
A chain of blackened tiger teeth appeared around his neck, swaying just as violently.
Then the world thrummed, a heartbeat echoing out that made the Celestial Terra's pupils constrict into pinholes, its brown irises spinning like a cyclone.
A diamond slowly manifested out from Leonel's forehead and suddenly pulsed.
The world stilled as Leonel raised his spear.
"It seems that even after all of this, they don't take me seriously. In that case, let your death be the sacrifice that wakes them up."
Leonel's spear descended, and its blade connected the earth and the skies.
Without a word, he retracted his spear and turned to leave before the strike even landed.
The Celestial Terra stood frozen there for a long while.
It wasn't until the next day that it slowly fell into two pieces, a mournful shuddering filling the skies.