Dimensional Descent

The father Leonel knew was always smiling, always joking, always pointing fun at something. He was a man who didn't take anything seriously, and yet he was the best father Leonel could have ever asked for. There was no one in this world that Leonel respected more, no one he loved more.

His father's happiness was his happiness. His father's sadness was his sadness. His father's fury was his fury.

"LEONEL!"

Many seemed to witness Leonel being crushed beneath a palm that dwarfed the size of his. But, in the very moment that such a thing appeared to happen, a towering pillar of crimson shot into the skies, shredding apart the hand that had come above it.

Tier 6.

Everything in the surroundings was shredded apart. A violent surge of Scarlet Star Force shot in from all sides, taking apart the Yin-Yang Domain as though it was never there to begin with. The most violent and destructive Force in all of existence made its presence known that day and in that moment, furiously tearing apart everything in its path.

The shadow was sent flying, a pit of magma and molten earth being left in its original location.

With slow and deliberate steps, Leonel walked out of the pit, billowing smoke and harsh heat wafting into the surroundings.

The spear in his hand was cracked to the point it seemed it might collapse at any moment. Any shred of clothing he had once had had vanished as well. However, at that moment, the halo above his head expanded, scanning down the length of his powerfully chiseled body and rising back up to reveal a glorious armor of bright sky blues and reflective silvers.

Space began to rapidly heat and then cool, the rapid changes causing the cracking glass effect of the Domain around Leonel to become more and more obvious with each passing second. However, it felt like to the man himself, none of it matter at all.

BANG!

Leonel shot forward, cascading colors of violet, crimson, bronze and gold circling around him without pause or end. When he reappeared, he was already swinging his spear down from the skies, its momentum making whatever power the shadow had had behind its strike seem like nothing more than child's play.

"You're the Desctruct—!"

The Shadow Sovereign spoke again for the first time in several exchanges, but it was already too late to finish its words.

Its body was in shambles. Having been in range of Leonel's Eighth Star formation, an entire side of its body had collapsed and the paw it had used to swipe down toward Leonel had been shredded to pieces, revealing the true shadow instead.

Leonel's cracked spent splintered through what remained of the outer shell like a hot knife through butter, his momentum so fierce that the ground beneath them earned a nice gash all to itself.

The shadow just barely managed to dodge out the way, losing just a bit more of his shadow construct in the process, but Leonel was absolutely relentless. His spear became like a raging flood dragon, every pierce causing spiraling winds to tear vicious holes through the body of the shadow

After three there was nothing but a single leg, part of a torso and its head remaining. After three more, the head was shredded to pieces and there was nothing more than an oversized leg. In a final volley of three, the shadow coughed up a violent mouthful of blood, their body being sent reeling backward.

With a flicker, the shadow vanished into the Shadow World. But, the moment it appeared once more, Leonel had removed a hand from his spear, reaching it out in a clawing motion and causing the surroundings of the shadow to crack like glass, freezing it in space.

The expression of the shadow changed below its cloak, but the constriction only seemed to double down.

Leonel's Dream Force flourished, his hand still being held up. In that moment, the raging fires around him concentrated into thin lines, rapidly racing across the air as each formed the singular gear of an increasingly complex Force Art.

The Shadow Sovereign was about to learn what true destruction was. Lingering in the air, right this very moment, was a thick assortment of Scarlet Star Force no one but Leonel could even dream of controlling.

There were only two options. The first was to allow it to dissipate over time, making the region safer for everyone. The second, though, was to use it… To destroy everything.

The cry of a bird rose through the skies, the complex lines of Force Arts suddenly fusing into a rising Phoenix which rose to its tallest height in one flap and shot down in a beam of laser-like crimson light with another.

The expressions of all the shadows warped, but it was already too late to do anything. The attack was too powerful, Leonel's fury was too strong, and even if they somehow managed to cross a distance that was much too far, the result would only be their own inevitable destruction.

BOOM!

Leonel's gaze hid coldly behind the visor of his armor. The billowing wind around him and the harsh spike in temperature didn't seem to harm him in the slightest.

For the first time, the Rapax who had focused their attention elsewhere finally focused on the singular young man standing among smoking shards of ice, falling down around him like twinkling stars reflecting harsh ruby colors.

Leonel's figure flickered once more, his speed even more unconscious and untouchable than the past. When he reappeared, the ragged body of the shadow was being gripped by its throat, lifted into the air as the last of its life was slowly being squeezed out, 40% of its body having been charred to black.

The flames of the phoenix construct rose again, releasing a cry in the skies and reforming to Leonel's back.

"Three Finger Cult…"

The astmosphere shifted as soon as Leonel uttered these words, every one of the shadows sending a piercing gaze toward him.

"Put her down."

A baritone voice that made Leonel's heart and lungs tremble within his ribcage called out. However, Leonel continued speaking as though he hadn't heard a thing.

"… Your worst mistake was appearing before me today."

Leonel's hand squeezed down, an eruption of Scarlet Star Force following his actions and charring everything in its path to ash.