"It's time."
In Black City, preparations were underway as well. The only difference was that while City Lord White took sole leadership, Black City was headed by a father-son pair.
Jerach was stunned out of his thoughts when he heard his father's voice.
The two men looked practically like copies of one another. Jerach's father had the same bald held, black armor and jagged beard his son did. The only difference was that Jerach's father was a head taller than he was.
Obviously, since Jerach was already in his 30's, this wasn't a matter of youth. Rather, Jerach's father simply had a far larger stature.
"Get the men ready." Jerach's father continued. "The city will be disappearing in just a few minutes."
"Yes, father."
Jerach nodded and went off to complete the last of his duties.
Jerach was lost in his thoughts as he made his way toward the military fields. Black City wouldn't be taking action immediately, so their mental state didn't need to be in a primed state. Not that Jerach was in the head space to give a motivational speech to begin with.
He had just failed the Brave City trials miserably and his heart was still being shadowed by a perpetual guilt.
Even now, he could still remember Leonel's complete disregard of him.
If Leonel had ignored him, it would have been one thing. But, Jerach remembered making eye contact with Leonel just one time while they were both still on the first floor.
Back then, it had been as though Leonel was looking at a stranger. He glanced at him as though he was observing someone he had seen for the first time and moved away from him just as easily
The way Leonel looked at him at that moment was something he would never forget…
At least if Leonel never looked in his direction, he could make himself believe that Leonel felt some anger toward him. Somehow, he felt that that would make him feel better. After all, anger was just another way of acknowledging someone's existence.
But, to so genuinely treat him as though they had never met before…
As the son and Heir to a City Lordship, he never thought he would ever have to deal with emotions like this, he never thought anything could make him feel this way, let alone due to someone he had met so recently.
However, deep down, Jerach knew that his emotions were less about Leonel and more about letting down himself.
Jerach shook his head.
'It doesn't matter anymore.'
**
Back on Camelot's moon, Leonel was still in a state of shock. He hadn't expected that the Zone quests had truly not been over, but he had expected even less that the 'reward' for completing them would be accelerating Earth into the Fourth Dimension.
Leonel's expression changed.
Without waiting for anyone to react, he shot to Ameron's side and sent the strongest punch he could at the latter's chin.
Ameron was completely flabbergasted by the change. He still didn't understand what was happening. All he knew was that he was bound now, and even if he wasn't, it would take him too much time to undo Leonel's restrictions. His last thought was that Leonel had tricked him and that he was basically a dead man.
His vision went black, collapsing to the ground.
Lancelot's eyes widened. "What a –"
Lancelot froze. "Huh?"
At that moment, Lancelot suddenly felt as though shackles that had held him down for decades suddenly imploded. Strength flooded into his body at impossible rates.
In the blink of an eye he was twice as powerful, then three times, then four times. Eventually, it got to be so much that even he no longer understood just how powerful he was in comparison to his former self.
Leonel stumbled backward, the forcefulness of Lancelot's breakthrough being too great. The wind kicked up and even the several meter thick trees around them began to sway.
Leonel put a forearm over his eyes, trying to peak through to see what was happening. But, he soon realized that it wasn't just Lancelot.
At that moment, dozens, even hundreds of knights they had brought with them were experiencing similar power boosts.
Leonel looked down at Ameron's unconscious body and suddenly felt a bit bad. The reason he had taken him down like that was because if Camelot entered the Fourth Dimension, the restrictions on Ameron's strength would have been completely lifted. By then, he would have been too troublesome to deal with.
Leonel sent an apologetic gaze toward the other three hidden family members.? But, considering the fear in their eyes and they way they were trying to distance themselves, Leonel felt that his smile might not have been as kind as he thought.
Aina smiled lightly at Leonel's embarrassed expression. But, truthfully, Leonel made the right move in such a situation. The worst case scenario was definitely a terrible situation they didn't want to be in.
'This makes sense, though. They've been stuck at the peak of the Third Dimension for so long, it's only right they breakthrough. It's likely related to their unique magic system, too…'
"Aina."
"Hm?" Aina blinked, a slight blush coloring her cheeks.
Leonel couldn't help but smile when he saw this. She was still so shy, all he did was call her name.
Aina currently found it troublesome to even look at Leonel. Every time she did, she would remember what happened before…
She furiously shook her head, looking away.
Leonel began to ask the question he was planning to, but Lancelot's sudden burst of laughter shocked him out of his train of thought.
Lancelot spread out his arms as though trying to catch the rays of the sun falling through the heavy canopies above. For the first time in months, the heavy rain of Camelot finally came to a stop, allowing the clouds to separate.
As a warrior, Lancelot had spent his whole life training. He never thought there would be a day where he could finally break through the final barrier, but here that day was. He felt better than he ever had before.
To an outside observer, he had simply broken through. But to him, it felt as though he had seen the light at the end of a dark tunnel. He hadn't thought that a simple shift in his mindset would bring him such benefits.
"Leonel, thank you!"
Leonel opened his mouth to respond again, but it seemed as though the universe had something against him today. But, this time, the cause of the interruption was far more serious. It was serious to the point where it just might decide the life and death of Earth as a world.
The sound of shattering glass reverberated throughout. Whether you were on Camelot, on the Moon, or on Earth, everyone heard it. It felt as though the fabric of time and space itself was quaking, threatening to tear itself apart.
Leonel looked up through the dense foliage, barely catching a glimpse of a sight he would never forget in his life.
A city had appeared in the sky. And, this city was falling toward them.
At the top of this city's gates, a lone woman dressed in black robes accented by white soft armor stood, a massive hammer in her hand as she looked down toward the rapidly approaching Camelot.
A bloodthirsty aura soon enveloped their lands. Those faint of heart felt as though there simply wasn't enough air to breathe.
Terrain was invading.