"Cap, who's this?"
Seeing that the situation was much better than they originally thought it would be, the guys somewhat relaxed. Now that their faculties were somewhat freer to think of other things, they finally noticed a silent figure sitting on the snowy roof of the collapsed building.
It was quite obvious that she was a woman. However, from the glimpses of her face they had seen, they didn't recognize her. Even if they ignored the scars, they didn't remember ever seeing such a woman before.
Compared to the past, the inflammation of Aina's scars had lessened by a large margin. So, while they still felt that this figure they didn't recognize wasn't very attractive and was quite pitiable, they didn't feel the same deep revulsion the people of Terrain had felt.
Still, many of them were still inwardly sighing a breath of relief. Did this mean that their Captain had finally moved on from Aina?
They had already lost count of how many times they'd tried to convince Leonel to consider other women. For a Five Star Quarterback to finish high school as a virgin… it was a waste of nature's gifts. They had shed no small amount of tears.
So, even if this woman wasn't up to the standards they believed their captain deserved, at the very least, she was a step in the right direction.
Unfortunately…
Leonel grinned. "You all don't recognize your own sister-in-law?"
Milan's eyes widened along with the other guys.
"Aina?" Milan's face flashed with confusion.
Unlike Leonel who seemed capable of recognizing Aina regardless of the situation or apparently no matter how she looked, it was clear that the others didn't have this ability at all. The face Aina displayed now was completely unlike the one she had used at Royal Blue Academy.
Aina smiled lightly in greeting before glaring at Leonel.
Sister-in-law? It seemed that this Leonel was getting a bit too courageous. He still hadn't learned his lesson after she spent this time ignoring him?
However, Aina didn't react as violently as she usually did. Maybe she gave Leonel a slight bit of face due to the fact his friends were here. Or… maybe she couldn't help but internally smile when Milan immediately knew who Leonel meant by sister-in-law…
Still, she took a mental note of this event and continued to play with the little mink and Tolliver.
"Oh, right."
Leonel changed the subject and put his hands on Milan and Raj's shoulders. A surge of Light Elemental Force sprung to life as Leonel cast [Grand Heal] on them.
Since the two were still within the Third Dimension, he had no need to use his improved version of the Art like he had done with Zilar. So, the process ended in just the blink of an eye.
Milan forgot his shock about Aina and aimed it all toward the changes in his body. All the aching in his ribs suddenly vanished. In fact, he felt better than he had in years.
As an offensive lineman, Milan spent his life in perpetual injury. He had long since gotten used to playing through the hurt. This was maybe the first time in a long time that… he was actually completely healthy?
"Cap!" Raj's mouth widened in surprise. "I thought you awakened a sensory ability? Did you awaken a second ability?"
Leonel's teammates looked toward him in shock, especially the rookie, Drake. It was as though they were looking at a god in the flesh.
Though they had heard a lot about powerful abilities through rumors, they had never once heard of a person awakening more than one ability.
Leonel chuckled and shook his head.
Though Earth was quite advanced in many things, when it came to understanding of this new world order, they were still quite lacking. There were many times in the past where others mistook Leonel's Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor as his ability.
This only made sense, though. Earth had yet to begin creating its own magic systems. Even Terrain, which was considered to be near the bottom of the barrel in terms of worlds, had begun to refine their own.
Jilniya's Falls Style was exactly this. Terrain focused heavily on Styles and the boost it could give to their overall combat prowess.
But Earth…? It had yet to find itself.
Thinking of this, Leonel looked up into the sky, trying to find their second moon and the location of Camelot. Unfortunately, the heavy snow guaranteed that that sky would be covered in a dense swath of clouds. Even if Camelot was right about him, Leonel wouldn't be able to see it.
Leoenl couldn't help but wonder how the saga between Earth and Camelot would end. Maybe Camelot would be the trigger Earth needed to begin building its own magic system.
With Earth's ingenuity, Leonel had no doubt that they would soon forge a path of their own.
Just think about it, even with a magic system to speak of, even without Force, Leonel was now watching what was effectively an army of mortals slaughter a Variant Invalid with strength almost comparable to an entity of the Fourth Dimension.
That was unimaginable for the vast majority of worlds. In fact, Earth might be the only place capable of achieving such a thing.
Leonel smiled and shook his head.
"With me here, you all don't have anything to worry about. I won't let what happened last time happen again."
Leonel looked back toward his teammates, a stern determination on his face.
A group of over a dozen men looked back toward him, not an ounce of doubt in their gazes. It seemed that long ago, Leonel had become far more than their quarterback.
Aina peeked back toward this scene, her eyes hiding a swirl of emotion.
The sight of Leonel leading a group of men and earning their respect and devotion…
'… He looks most attractive like this.'
Aina's eyes widened at her own thoughts, a furious blush lighting her features as she looked away. Unfortunately, no one would see this sight.
"Cap! That white wolf is done!" Drake suddenly called out.
Leonel looked back to see that the rookie was correct. That white wolf was on its last legs.
'Is this really all a Variant Invalid is capable of?' Leonel couldn't help but frown.
He had heard so much about their legend and even more about their intelligence. But, this one fell because it not only lacked strength, but also because its mind was lacking.
Leonel's pupils suddenly constricted, his head snapping toward a certain direction. What he saw shocked him to no end.
Tanks. Dozens of them. Each fitted with a long barrel that swayed with their every movement.
"… The Slayer Legion?"
Leonel looked back toward the collapsing white wolf.
'They want to take advantage of this situation?'
But… something felt off.
Sparks flew in Leonel's Dreamscape. But, without enough information, no connections could be made. Let alone realizing what was wrong with this picture, Leonel didn't realize there were sparks forming at all...
...
(Author's note below)