Leonel's aura was like a raging tiger released from its chains. It commanded absolute respect within its territory.
"Chain Domain."
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The instant the words left Leonel's lips, the crumbling domain around him suddenly resurrected, coming back in full force. No, to say full force would be to assume that it came back just as strong. But, the reality was very much different.
In the past, the Chains were illusory and their rattling rang hollow. But now, it looked as though real chains had manifested into the air, their bodies exuding a black fog that suffocated their surroundings.
However, just when it felt as though just these changes were shocking enough, the Domain began to change again.
Royal Blue Province was a tropical location that experienced Summer almost all year 'round. It never seemed to get too blistering hot and it never snowed. It could be said that the Spring and Summer should have been the Seasons Leonel was the most familiar with.
Still, even to this point, Leonel had failed to comprehend the Four Seasons Realm on his own. The reason was simple, he found it difficult to wrap his mind around the concept of the Seasons suddenly becoming a battle technique. Even if he knew it was possible, his mind couldn't cross an artificial barrier it put up for itself.
Even after experiencing the same Seasons everyday for all his life, Leonel couldn't cross the final step. How was he supposed to translate such gentle climate into a battle technique? It simply didn't make any sense. For that matter, how could someone with Fire Elemental Force ever hope to grasp the cold of Winter? Or how could someone with Ice Elemental Force ever hope to grasp Summer?
Leonel didn't know how long he would spend stuck at this barrier. However, what he never would have expected was for Lionel to break it for him.
To say that Lionel helped Leonel grasp the Four Seasons Realm was incorrect. Rather, Lionel taught Leonel the way he should look at this world.
Leonel was often bound by logic. He felt that everything should have a natural progression and that the world should have cause and effect. In fact, even now, he still believed this.
Leonel felt that there was no issue with his beliefs. Rather, there was an issue in the method by which he implemented them.
In order to understand cause and effect, one had to first grasp the rules of a system. Trying to understand what was going on in a sports game without first grasping the rules would only leave you lost.
To this point, Leonel was still using the rules of Modern Earth. In that world, such fanciful abilities couldn't be reality, science was the ruler, and something like a fairy tale character coming to life was nothing more than a joke.
These thoughts not only fueled him, but they restrained him, bogging down his mind and limiting his thoughts.
Simply put... it was foolish.? But now, things were different.
Leonel thought that the only Seasons he was familiar with were Spring and Summer. As for Winters and Falls, though he had experienced them when traveling to other Provinces, his understanding of them could be considered to be minimal.
But was that really true? If Leonel was as logical as he claimed to be, he'd realize that Seasons were decided by the tilt of Earth and its location around the sun. A Season wasn't restricted by temperature, it was simply a cycle of time.
Leonel was so bogged down by his own preconceptions that he didn't even manage to remember such a simple concept.
The reality was that Leonel had experienced Winter once a year, every year, for his whole life. Just because it didn't get bone chillingly cold, didn't mean he hadn't.
What did this mean? It meant that the Seasons were about more than just surface level conceptions. Temperature was irrelevant, climate was irrelevant, even the beautiful gradient of colors the Seasons shifted between were irrelevant.
In that case... what were the Seasons?
Everyone experienced them differently. In fact even if one shared the same planet, if you were located in different hemispheres, the cycles wouldn't even be the same.
So what was a Season? What was the Four Seasons Realm....?
Wasn't it just a journey around the Sun?
To the current Leonel, it wasn't even this. To him, the Four Seasons simply represented a cycle, an infinite loop dependent on countless factors. If he tweaked these factors as he pleased... he could make what he wanted out of the Four Seasons Realm.
On a large scale, the cycle encompassed an entire planet, its orbit, its tilt and its people. On a small scale...
All it took was one's own Domain.
The moment Leonel grasped this, his aura completely changed. The amount of Universal Force around him skyrocketed, reaching levels that dwarfed even the Savants.
When Leonel unleashed the shackles on his mind, what he had done wasn't as simple as understanding the Four Seasons Realm for a particular weapon or a particular Force Strengthening Deviation. Rather, he embodied the Four Seasons Realm. Everything within his Domain was under his control.
If Uncle Montez had been here, he would have laughed uproariously. It would have been the kind of laughter that shook the skies and forced the earth to quake.
This was the true Four Seasons Realm. Only by grasping it could Domains display their true strength.
The Four Seasons Realm. The Domain Realm. The Realm of Kings.
"Bind."
Leonel's voice came down like a command from on high. The Chains of his Chain Domain roared like flood dragons, surging into Lionel's space of nothingness as though mythical creatures snaking through the skies.
At that moment, Lionel's expression finally changed. Fear replaced the light of madness in his gaze as he retreated.
The Earth folded to Lionel's will, the laws of reality bending and twisting. In one instant he was in front of the Savants, and in the next he was standing behind them, his expression trembling.
"Kill him!"
Lionel's voice shivered, a trembling cadence clear within. The instant he felt like he no longer held the upper hand, his air of confidence crumbled. He held none of the resolve a man should have.
Hearing Lionel's command, even Monkey was forced to turn back, giving the youth warriors some reprieve.
"Stay back." Leonel commanded. "Leave them all to me. Go and support Aina. I don't want to see Anared strutting around here any longer."
Leonel's pupils flickered with a violet-red light, his aura growing heavier with each passing moment.
The youths hesitated. By now, they were beaten and bloodied, many of them were even on their last legs. But, it was precisely because of this that they couldn't fathom the idea of Leonel going against them all alone.
However, when Leonel looked back toward them, the look in his eye made them shiver. It felt as thougha higher being was gazing upon them. The Bronze Runes that flickered into and out of existence all of Leonel's body radiated a palpable pressure. Even the space around him seemed to twist and bend.
Nile and the others gulped. They felt like even if they wanted to, it would have been impossible to disobey Leonel's orders.
"Yes, Captain!"
Before the youths realized what they were doing, they had already saluted and turned back, charging toward the battle between Aina and Anared.
Anared frowned. He didn't know what a Domain was to begin with. So, he understood even less about the changes Leonel had undergone.
'Regardless, facing even one Savant is suicide, let alone four.'
Anared retrieved his sword, retreating with light steps.
'Since you want to despair, I'll let you despair.'
Now that Vice had completely focused his abilities in Leonel's direction, those around Hargrove City had finally been released. It seemed that these fools had forgotten this was a war.
However, just as he was sneering, Anared felt a cold shiver down his spine. He instinctively looked in a certain direction only to see Leonel's cold gaze locked onto him.
A deep fear suddenly took root in his heart. Before, Leonel's complete indifference had left him feeling uncomfortable. But, this sudden attention made him feel as though a reaper had grasped onto his throat.
The look had a clear meaning. Even if you ran to the ends of the earth, you would still die.
Aina's shout had engraved itself onto Leonel's heart. If Anared thought he could get away with it, he was sorely? mistaken.
Leonel turned his attention back to the Savants before him.
Monkey's thousands of clones, Candle's mysterious mirrors, Vice's spatial locks... Lionel's reality warping.
Even just a single one of these Savants would be enough to bring a world to its knees. Yet, with its talent, Earth had birthed four in just a single generation and Leonel was crazy enough to face them all alone.
The several hundred clones Monkey had remaining swarmed Leonel and suddenly doubled once again.
The sight was truly one to behold. A single man facing an army of monsters.
Leonel indifferently swept a gaze through them, his spear tip just barely grazing the cracked, concrete grounds.
"Piss off."
In that moment, countless chains wrapped around Monkey's clones.. Under the astonished gazes of those watching, hundreds of clones shattered into a rain of flesh, blood and bones, painting Leonel's Chain Domain in a dripping crimson.