Hearing these words, Elysium's heart couldn't help but skip a beat.
When a man like him lost control of his emotions, the skies changed color and the earth seemed to flip. The entirely artistic conception of the world was flipped on its head as though it had been plunged into a world of nightmares.
Swirls of chaos began to appear in space like the canvas of a Van Gogh painting. A rainbow of dark colors slathered themselves across the skies, and part of the earth below seemed to act both as careless currents of water and the hardest diamond.
It was a casual use of strength and power that Leonel had never seen before, one that should have rocked him to the very core, and yet the indifference in his eyes only deepened to the point that it gave way to disdain, as though he had just broken through another one of the nine levels of Hell.
So bold, so arrogant, so uncaring, and dismissive of the world in one moment, and yet the instant he came across the slightest obstruction, this was his reaction.
And he called himself an expert?
Elysium had probably lived a life that was carefree and easy. He probably thought that he had had it hard, having to raise up a Race back to Godhood...
Poor him. It must have been extremely difficult being raised in one of the wealthiest Demi-God Races in existence, being handed his Patriarch position, and then sitting on the sidelines while everyone else fought his battles.
He had no idea the kind of trials and tribulations that Leonel had been through, so much so that he actually dismissed Leonel's heroic reversals, distilling them down to...
Going back on his word?
Elysium certainly had no idea just how much of his thoughts that Leonel could see right through. Wise Sea Order alone was already enough to be hailed as an Oracle by the people of the Incomplete World. When it was layered with Wise Sea order, the reality of it all was that Leonel couldn't just be said to be a Dream Force Sovereign anymore... he was something far beyond that.
Even the combination of a Sovereignty and an Innate Node stacked atop of one another was inferior to the boost that he had to his Dream Force right now.
Of course, this boost wasn't in the normal sense, or else the likes of Minerva wouldn't have been able to outmaneuver him.
Even so, it wasn't something that could be easily ignored nonetheless, because this boost was precisely focused on comprehending and understanding the world around him.
He had only had it for a few weeks, and yet he had already broken through with two Forces into the Creation State.
Had his battle not been interrupted, he might very well have broken through in another.
The thoughts of this overly arrogant man could never be hidden from him.
What he did best now was understand, and Elysium's mind might as well have been an open book, especially because he was so arrogant he didn't even try to bar it from being read.
It all bore out exactly as he expected. The moment Elysium sensed that the situation was being pulled away from his control, he reacted. It even seemed that he might flip out in a rage.
When his lips were about to part, Leonel interrupted him.
"Don't waste my time with a stupid back and forth. You do not have the capability to kill me before this world is ultimately destroyed. You might be close to being a God, but you are not yet a God. I have trump cards you wouldn't imagine, including one that would have allowed me to beat you into the ground with my own fists.
"You are just lucky that I would rather destroy this world and be hunted down by the Gods than to take that route.
"So maybe you are right that I take the path of most resistance, even when I probably shouldn't.
"But so what?"
Leonel's momentum grew so lofty that the world around him returned to normal, shedding the suppression that came from Elysium's warping of the world.
In that moment, his Dream Force soared, entering the Middle Creation State in a single bound. The flickering crown above his head solidified and a bit of the paleness on his face seemed to have recovered.
Not all paths of most resistance chosen were done out of stupidity. Some of them were chosen out of principle, out of love, out of conviction.
If Leonel destroyed this world, it would mean that the plan of the Owlans and Fallen God Beasts would fail. Once that happened, the ire of the world would be likely to fall on him.
Even if they suffered greatly, the Owlans and Fallen God Beasts would certainly come after him, not to mention the Variant Invalids.
At the same time, once the Void Race found out the true ins and outs of the situation, because they would no longer have to weigh their options and deal with the appearance of a new God Realm, they could certainly come after him as well.
It could be said that regardless of whether it was Leonel or Elysium, the both of them would lose a lot the moment this world was destroyed.
And yet, this was still the choice that Leonel chose to take. He would rather take this path than use the blood of that woman.
He had sworn it before and he would never hesitate to say it again.
Until she died beneath the palm of his hands, he would never use his Dream Asura Lineage Factor again.
And that was the dividing the line between these two men.
On one side, there was a man blinded by his arrogance and still unwilling to give up, even now.
And on the other there was a man staunch in his convictions and resilient in his thoughts.
Between the two of them... who really was the stupid one?