Jefrach was drenched in sweat.
In order not to lose face, he had kept up with Leonel's pace from start to finish. But the result made his lung scream.
Unfortunately, the pressure of the Gates had nothing to do with strength. Even a Fifth Dimensional entity would face a proportional amount of pressure. This was, of course, the same for Jefrach.
But, what Jefrach couldn't believe was that Leonel seemed unaffected. Let alone breathing as heavily as him, Leonel didn't even seem as though he had sweated a single drop. To make matters worse, Jefrach was certain that the reason he was in such a sorry state was because of the pressure of the wall, but rather because of the pressure from Leonel himself.
Finally, for the first time since their competition began, Leonel looked toward Jefrach.
"You don't look too good, baldy. You doing okay?"
Jefrach's gaze flashed with a bloody red. He glared at Leonel, his chest heaving.
At that moment, from atop the city walls, a few individuals looked down with curiosity. They all seemed like youths as well. However, whether they had gone through the same trials or not was unknown.
"Isn't that Black City's bald boy? He looks like he's in a pretty sorry state, what happened to him?"
The few on the wall chuckled. However, let alone hearing them, those below couldn't even see them. It was as though they were in a completely different world.
The only one who frowned, seemingly realizing something was off, was Leonel. However, even with his senses, he had no way of seeing through the Brave City barrier. He only felt a faint itching at the small of his back as though he was being watched.
"Which door do you think they'll be able to open?"
"Pft, aren't you just wondering if we'll have any competition?"
"Regardless, if they're anything below Royal it'll be too much of a disappointment. If that was the case, I would have gotten up to come all the way over here for no reason."
"If you wanted to watch true elites, you should have gone to watch the Gates with Powers rather than this City Lord Gate. It's rare for anything meaningful to come out of the Cities. And, those that are worth watching have already entered the city."
"Well, isn't that that madman's sister down there? Maybe the genes run in the Keafir family."
The others looked at the young man who spoke like he was crazy.
"You know that madman is over protective about anything related to his wife and his little sister. You better watch your mouth. I don't care if you die, but if I'm guilty by association, who will I go complain to?"
It was clear that these people were speaking about Syl's elder brother. It seemed that he had already entered the city. However, oddly enough, his wife and Syl's sister-in-law, Heira, didn't seem to be a participant.
It obviously wasn't because Heira was too weak and it obviously wasn't because she was too old… Whatever the true reason behind this was seemed a bit complicated.
Regardless, Leonel wasn't privy to this information as he couldn't even hear the conversation.
Still, all those on the top of the city walls seemed to accept this person's word as law and they all closed their mouths.
"… It's a shame though." Someone else picked up the conversation that had fallen to silence. "The Cities are only going to fall further and further behind the Powers at this rate. If they don't get themselves together and see the bigger picture, they'll be left behind."
The others sneered hearing this. It was clear they were all from Powers themselves, or they wouldn't be reacting like this.
"It isn't their fault. Their structures are flawed from the beginning. Us Powers are built on strength first and foremost while their foundations are economy and governance. To them, abandoning Terrain would ruin their futures completely, whereas for us, wherever there's room for self improvement, we'll be able to thrive.
"They only have themselves to blame for their collapse."
The words these young masters spoke easily uncovered the dark underbelly of Terrain without regard. Unlike the common people who had to tiptoe around their words, these nobles spoke their minds freely and boldly. This was the representation of true power.
The group snickered.
"Oh, looks like someone is going to try? Huh? Is that boy really in the Third Dimension?"
They had been so lost in their own worlds that it was only now they noticed that the young man teaching Jerach his place was actually within the Third Dimension.
For one, they had never heard of a person in the Third Dimension even making it through the pressure of the Gates. Though the pressure was adjusted based on strength, there was still a minimum requirement for foundation. They had simply never seen someone within the Third Dimension meet these standards.
And, secondly, anyone who could make a fool out of Jerach should definitely be a monster.
The only reason they hadn't paid more attention to Leonel before despite this was because the City Lord system was declining harshly. Though Jerach had some fame, they all docked him several points simply by virtue of this.
Why would they care about someone who was only beating someone they didn't care much about to begin with? Would you care about the power of someone capable of stomping an ant to death?
"He…"
BANG!
At that moment, Leonel's palm touched the tall doors, his robes and hair billowing.
Jerach, who was already hardly able to stand on his own two feet, was blasted flying, rolling in the dirt until he slowly landed before the feet of the two women who were still a good distance from the Gates.
Leonel felt a force trying to rip his arm apart. Strong energies surged toward him, but they rebounded off his body like crossing blades, filling the air with the sound of harsh sharpening metal.
BANG!
The ground beneath Leonel's feet cracked slightly. Fine lines raced across, meeting together and separating just as quickly as they spread outward.
Leonel closed his eyes.
He could sense the five levels of the door. In fact, it wasn't much different from the scene he saw when unlocking his Metal Synergy Lineage Factor.
Soldier. General. Royal. King. Emperor.
The whole city quaked.
Leonel thought of waiting for Jerach to go first again. But, after seeing his poor performance, Leonel felt that it was beneath him to even need such a person to contrast himself with. He simply served no purpose.
In that case, he would make it a one man show.
His singular palm rested the door. He could feel it pushing back against him, wanting to throw him away the very same way Jerach had been.
Leonel's eyes shot open. Bronze Runes raced across his body, a halo of bronze violet appearing above his head.
Those with Lineage Factors suddenly felt their hearts tremble, their blood running in reverse.
"Open."
BANG!
The scene was one those watching would never forget.