A harsh silence overtook the battlefield. Even though Leonel had managed to hold his ground until now, for anyone with battle experience, it was clear that whatever advantage he had had was slowly fading. As the Savants became more and more accustomed to battle, their strengths continued to evolve and the upper hand Leonel had had was slowing to a crawl.
However, just when others thought that Leonel was about to be forced into a corner, a single move flipped the situation of the battlefield on its head.
Everyone was always guessing at what Leonel's ability might be. Some thought his Light Elemental affinity was the core of his ability, others thought it was his Bronze Runes, some even believed that it was his Spear affinity.
Leonel knew well, though, that none of these things were where his true strengths lay. As he stated before, what Leonel grasped from Lionel wasn't the Four Seasons Realm. Leonel's understanding the Four Seasons Realm could only be considered a by-product of him finally comprehending the path he should step on.
The core of Leonel's prowess was now and would forever be his mind.
Leonel appeared before Monkey once again, a cold indifference coloring his expression. Even now, slumped to the ground, Leonel could see that the doubling Monkey had assigned to his healing factor was still in effect. In fact, Leonel could see Monkey's body reforming before his eyes.
But, would Leonel really foolishly allow such a thing to happen right in front of him?
Leonel stabbed his spear down, skewering Monkey's head.
The Savant convulsed. Having reached a point that would be impossible for any normal human to return from, one would think that Monkey would be finished. But, Leonel actually felt Monkey's brain trying its best to heal around the shaft of his spear. The reality of it all was baffling.
Leonel shook his head. With a flip of his palm, a snowglobe appeared and enveloped Monkey's body. Since there was no easy way to kill Monkey for now, Leonel had no issue relying on Suspended Animation.
When Leonel stored Monkey away and looked up, he found that Vice's state might have been better than Monkey's, but considering the fact the former didn't have any healing abilities, their situations might as well have been functionally the same.
Vice had flown back like a broken kite, his limbs twisted at awkward angles and his breathing was left shallow. He lost consciousness the moment the pain reached a threshold that was beyond him.
Leonel raised his spear to kill Vice, but he hesitated.
By now, if he didn't understand the backstory of these prisoners, he wouldn't be worthy of his computational mind ability. However, even if he felt sympathy, he couldn't possibly allow them to do as they pleased.
Leonel wasn't certain why The Ascension Empire would choose to keep these Savants alive. If they were willing to kill so many of their fellow man to avoid dealing with billions of Invalids, why would they suddenly be soft-hearted now?
Leonel sighed. His spear descended, piercing Vice through the heart before enveloping him in another snowglobe.
The Savants were simply too dangerous. Though Vice was in a sorry state, if he regained consciousness, his ability would be devastating. Unlike Monkey, he didn't need to move for his ability to take effect.
So, Leonel decided to place him on the brink of death. That way, even if by some miracle he managed to escape the snowglobe, he would only be mere seconds away from death.
Leonel looked toward where Candle was trapped. Even now, she was still struggling and likely had no idea that it was her ability that turned the tides of the battlefield against her favor.
Raising a hand, Leonel sent a scorching fire toward her cocoon. Though Leonel had a feeling that Candle could deflect energies as well, what would she do if her deflected energy simply made her situation worse?
If she really reflected the heat back while trapped in such a place, she would only be hastening her death.
At that moment, Candle's screams shook the hearts of all those who could hear it again.
"Stop resisting or I'll burn you alive."
Leonel's voice didn't carry a hint of emotion. It traveled to Candle's ears like a reaper's death cry.
Any battle veteran would have found another method, any method other than listening to Leonel's words. But, as a na?ve teenage girl who knew nothing of battle, Candle shook with fear, accepting Leonel's words as gospel the moment she heard them. Just a little heat was enough to scare her out of her wits, the thought of it getting even worse shook her to her soul.
Just like that, three Savants were captured and stored into snowglobes, leaving just one remaining. Leonel finally turned his gaze toward Lionel.
Lionel shivered meeting Leonel's gaze, hints of madness, rage and fear within his eyes. He backed away, the land to his back warping as he tried to escape once again.
By now, the battlefield had completely flipped in favor of Earth. With the addition of Noah's troops, the warriors of Hargrove City were driven onto their backfoot. If it wasn't for the fact they had erected a City, they would have likely been forced to flee a long while ago.
There was simply nothing for Lionel to rely on.
Leonel crossed the distance that separated them. Now that he only had Lionel to worry about, he could focus on disrupting the flow of Dream Force without powerful enemies looming to his back.
The truth was that Leonel's Dream Force affinity was just as high as Lionel's. What separated them was the use of Universal Force as a supplemental help. Unfortunately, Leonel didn't currently have a Domain that was tailored to his ability, so he couldn't fuse his Dream Force with Universal Force like Lionel could. But, he didn't need so much to be a disruptor.
Lionel found that his hold over his surroundings diminished greatly. The panic in his eyes only grew with each passing moment.
Unlike with the others, Leonel had no intention of showing any sort of mercy to Lionel. Though Lionel's backstory was likely no less tragic, he lacked the naivete the others had. He couldn't be allowed to live.
Leonel appeared before Lionel. Before the latter could even react, he found a spear shooting through his head.
"I…" Lionel voice was lost in a gurgle of blood. "… Just wanted to see my mother…"
The bloody angel to Lionel's back shed a tear as its existence crumbled.
Leonel didn't show any mercy in those final moments.. His Fire Elemental Force exploding along his spear, incinerating Lionel to ash.