The fire reflected in Leonel's irises. He didn't know what was happening. He didn't know why or even how the Oryx King sacrificed himself. He didn't know if this was an ability of World Force, if it was a Lineage Factor, or even if this was the Oryx King's original ability being fueled to a new level by his World Force…
Even with all his intellect, even with all his senses, he just couldn't understand…
But maybe that was the way things were meant to be. When those at the top took on the greatest burden for themselves, wasn't it all to allow those beneath them to live on in ignorance?
The flames, despite never touching the city below, seemed to engulf it whole. Whether it was the heat or the moment, it was all ubiquitous. This was likely a moment they would never forget… And yet, maybe the greatest irony was that they had treated this man as an enemy just moments ago.
It was yet another bittersweet moment. But, it was one filled with an underlying respect that pounded through their hearts.
Maybe, though… Life wasn't filled with such fairy tales. Sometimes, even when the greatest sacrifice is made, even when all the tears are shed and all the hearts were broken… It still isn't enough.
As the fires even Leonel didn't dare casually touch began to die down, the image of a singular man still standing in the air became clearer and clearer. By the time the flames faded away completely and they saw what remained, a horror could only grip their minds.
There, Alexandre stood.
His skin was burnt black, flaking off to reveal bloodied, mangled flesh beneath.
Both of his arms were nowhere to be seen and his once handsome features had all been burnt away to the point that one could make out bits and pieces of his skull.
At that moment, the manic laughter appeared once again. As the rain sizzled and boiled, coming into contact with the supposed king, this laughter only grew.
"Kill me?! I AM THE APEX!"
Alexandre's voice boomed, the projection of his voice tearing a cyclone into the thick, black, cumulonimbus clouds coating the sky.
Arcs of lightning flashed and thunder boomed. It looked like a hellish descent coming to reap all of their lives.
"No!" Leonel suddenly roared, his body flickering.
But when he appeared again, he had traveled less than half the distance he had wanted to.
Completely out of his range, Alexandre had shot down from the skies, his armless body looking like an arrow through the rain as he appeared amidst the army.
His mouth opened wide, skin flaking and falling from his skull even as he bit down.
At that moment, from across the battlefield, Gertrude smiled. Even from so far away, Leonel could see it clearly.
She knew Alexandre was too fast for her to react to. She didn't even have time to raise her weapon.
Her final thoughts were quite simple, really. If she was going to die anyway, wouldn't it be nice to see his face one last time?
It was just a shame… that his head was covered in that damned armor…
Gertrude's throat was ripped out by Alexandre's teeth in that moment. As though a man dying of thirst, he sucked with all his might, leaving her withering until she breathed her last.
Alexandre's body flickered again, fiending for blood, needing that taste of life to grace his lips.
The reason he had been able to gain such great regenerative abilities was by sacrificing his own son. After having gone so far and with the unification of this world right at his finger tips, how could he die now?!
Leonel saw red, his body driving itself forward. Even if he couldn't use Spatial Force anymore, he still had his speed, he still had something.
Unfortunately, without Spatial Force, he plummeted from the skies, crashing into the buildings below.
Leonel allowed his Divine Armor to sink into his skin, bursting with whatever Light Elemental Force he could muster.
But, by the time he managed to leap over another building, he could only watch as Alexandre surged toward Rollan.
Leonel felt as though his heart was being ripped out. These last two years couldn't have been any realer to him. He could still hear every one of Rollan's laughs, he could still feel every time he patted his shoulder, he could still taste every meal they had had together.
Thinking of how he could possibly explain his death to Elise, or if he would even ever get a chance to, tore him up from the inside out.
However, Leonel didn't see Rollan die. Somehow, what he saw instead shook him even more.
Just when Rollan's throat was about to be torn out much like Gertrude before him, Goggles kicked him out of the way, appearing before Alexandre with a dagger wrapped by both hands and plunging down with all the strength he had.
"Goggles!" Rollan roared.
"Shut up!" Goggles shout hid the trembling in his voice. "I won't let this bastard be the reason my Goddess cries!"
Leonel's world completely lost color.
All the times Goggles had gone on a convoluted rant played in his mind in a flash. And yet, this time, he hardly got to finish a single sentence before the rest was filled the gurgling sounds of blood.
Goggles' eyes dimmed as his throat was ripped apart by a shining row of white teeth.
Leonel plowed his way forward, his ears ringing with an eerie high pitched, monotonous sound. He couldn't see straight or think straight. Everything he had left was poured into running as fast as he could as though it didn't matter that Alexandre had already regrown his limbs.
Alexandre's laughter rang through the skies, a familiar silver tablet rising out of his body and exuding an endless pressure.
Leonel appeared before him, but could hardly swing his spear before a dome of Force blocked him completely.
Leonel wildly swung his spear at the dome, but none of what he did seemed to matter in the slightest.
"You know…" Alexandre laughed, his mouth bloodied with the flesh of Leonel's lieutenants. "… I once had a subject just as disobedient as you. Why don't I give you the same chance I gave him?
"You want to save the rest of them, right?"
Alexandre picked up Rollan who had been sprawled to the ground by Goggles, lifting him up as though to make certain that Leonel could see his face.
"Bow down."
The dome of Force around Leonel constricted, plowing him into the ground and smashing his forehead against the cracked paved roads of the city.
"Swear your loyalty. Recognize the Apex. I, King Alexandre, will be the ruler of this world!"
Leonel's face was grinded into the dirt. He didn't even have the leverage he needed to stand up with his arms pressed flush against the ground, let alone the fact even if he did, there was no way he'd have the strength to shatter this barrier.
He couldn't crack this barrier even when he was at full strength, how would he do it now?
"If you do not… I'll make sure to kill each and every one of them. One by one."