Aina suddenly felt as though her body wasn't hers. There was a disconnect between her mind and body as though one was being rejected from the other. It was hard to tell exactly which was happening, but the fundamental truth was that the disconnect made her feel as though her body wasn't her own.
With a frown, Aina brandished her ax out of habit, just trying to do something she was familiar with.
By now, she had long since lost count of the number of times she had swung her ax in her life. Leonel was always fascinated by her tanned skin, but wasn't that just the product of all the work she had put in ever since she was old enough to understand the cruelty of the world around her?
There was nothing in this world that she was more familiar with than her ax.
A swirl of Universal Force followed Aina's swing. For the first time since this oddity began, Aina felt as though she was back in her own body again.
But, just when she thought it was alright to stop and her previous feelings had just been an anomaly, she felt the feeling come back the moment she stopped swinging her ax. In fact, now, due to the abrupt stop, the feeling was even more obvious than it had been before.
It was like invisible shackles had suddenly been placed over her body.
Aina's ability worked on instinct mostly and was only partially an actionable act taken up by herself. But, at this moment, that instinct seemed foggy.
Whereas before she was certain of the next steps she had to take to train her body and improve her ax, at this moment she felt confused and baffled.
'Did I overuse my ability? Did I run into a bottleneck?'
A bit of worry mixed within a deep frown took over Aina's features. Was this really the limit of her talent? A slight hint of anxiety bubbled up within her heart.
Unlike Leonel, Aina couldn't just pull out a dictionary and get a read on her ability. She was only aware that her ability was good, but she didn't know anything about its growth potential or even what stage it was at now.
'No… It can't be. It can't be.'
Aina's jaw steeled.
Her talent was what she relied on to have a chance to avenge her mother in the future. If this was really her limit, she wouldn't be able to accept it.
Aina's eyes reddened, a fury hidden within their depths. She refused to accept this. Even if this was the end of her road, she'd find a way to burst through it.
The truth was that Aina didn't know how powerful the Brazinger family was. She didn't know how much effort it would take to take them down or what kind of backers they had. But to her, it never mattered. She would destroy them one day, no matter the cost.
"Aina?"
At that moment, Leonel's voice drifted to her ears, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Leonel looked worriedly toward his girlfriend. Without her mask on, it was easy for Leonel to read her mood. He could see the cycle of emotions Aina was going through. But, he couldn't understand what was wrong. Did something happen?
"Are you okay? What happened?"
Leonel scanned Aina's face and body as though trying to find any injuries she might have, but he didn't see what could be wrong.
"Hm?"
Leonel's gaze suddenly sharpened.
The sight was subtle, so subtle that even he almost missed it. If it wasn't for the fact he had been determined to find out what was wrong with Aina, he would have overlooked it entirely.
At that moment, a faint reddish-black gas hung around Aina's body. It was so faint that it seemed to blend in with Aina's tanned skin almost seamlessly.
Leonel's gaze flashed, two golden pupils suddenly appearing to his back. If anyone else faced these eyes, it would feel as though they were bearing their very soul before Leonel.
For a person, such a feeling should have been uncomfortable and off-putting. Yet, for Aina, she somehow didn't find anything wrong with it. In fact, her beating heart seemed to calm considerably. Beneath Leonel's shadow, she found peace again.
However, while she felt at peace, Leonel's expression twisted, a flickering rage erupting within the depths of his gaze.
The eyes of the Snowy Star Owl were part of its Wisdom Branch. At this moment, Leonel had still yet to unlock the second tier of his Wisdom Branch Lineage Factor. As such, he could only use the most basic abilities of the Snowy Star Owl's gaze.
But, that was more than enough for him to sharpen his gaze by several levels.
The faint reddish-black suddenly morphed in Leonel's eyes. It formed into an illusory leach, latching onto Aina's body.
At first, Leonel was infuriated, thinking that this was related to Aina's curse again. There was even a part of him that wanted to abandon Earth at this very moment and go explore Fifth Dimensional worlds so he could find the things she needed to be cured.
But, upon second inspection, he found that the leach was connected by a faint line that shot into the skies. The line grew so thin and transparent that after a few dozen meters, even Leonel couldn't follow it any longer.
'This isn't her curse? What's going on?'
"Ai! It seems that I've finally found you, my Queen."
The moment this voice entered her ears, Aina's expression froze, her body flexing so hard that it began to tremble. Several blood vessels ruptured, leaving a flowerbed of crimson trailing up and down her mostly flawless skin.
Leonel's head turned back to Aina. Seeing her reaction, he felt his heart froze over. It was as though the woman he cared for most was right before him, but he couldn't even protect her. She was no further than half a meter from him, yet it felt like she was worlds away, blocking her off from reality.
Aina seemed to have rejected all outside influences, clenching her fists so hard that blood dripped from her palms.
"Go. Bring me my Queen, puppets."
At that moment, the faint reddish-black line that extended from Aina's body thickened by several levels. In fact, with Leonel's gaze, he suddenly found that the city was covered in these lines suddenly.
It was in that instant that Leonel understood that it wasn't just Aina effected by these leaches.
And, unfortunately, the people of The Capital were quickly learning this as well.