Leonel's vision slowly cleared, only to find himself in a space of endless fog. However, what his gaze first locked on wasn't this eerily familiar setting, but rather the delicate feathers of white gold falling from an unknowable height onto his body.
The moment Leonel saw this sight, he sighed deeply. The sight of this meant that what he had experienced wasn't an illusion, it was every bit as real as any of the other Zones he had entered.
This much he had expected. He had already guessed that there was a better than 95% chance that this would be the case. If even the mere fairy tale of Camelot could become real, he really had no leg to stand on in hoping that these matters were fake.
Each and every one of those lives weighed heavily upon him…
How, then, was Leonel so sure…? It all went back to the fluttering white gold feathers and the gaping pain in his chest that was being closed even now.
Among the new abilities Leonel had formulated in these past two years, one was Dream Counter.
Dream Counter, if explained in the simplest terms, was like Leonel programming his body to complete an action without his input. By assigning one of his split minds to a task, he could trigger an ability, a set of actions, or any sort of response, for any given specific situation of his choosing.
Over these last two years, Leonel had been able to increase his number of split minds from less than a hundred to more than double that. This allowed him to 'sacrifice' one of his split minds for the sake of Dream Counter.
In this case, Leonel assigned Dream Counter to his Snow Star Owl Lineage Factor's Healing Branch ability: Instant Recovery.
Instant Recovery was an ability that Leonel could only use once every several months and could bring him back from the brink of death. With such a valuable ability, wouldn't it be laughable if Leonel died simply because he wasn't quick enough to activate it?
Leonel thus did the logical thing and assigned his first Dream Counter to activate upon his imminent death.
Leonel's hope for Dream Counter would be that he would eventually be able to split his mind so many ways that he could almost auto-pilot his body. Such a Battle State would be even more powerful than his Dreamscape Battle Sense because there would be no need to read and react. However, whether such a thing would be possible in the future was unknown. How could it be possible to form a counter for an infinite number of possibilities?
At this point, the reason why Leonel was so certain was obvious. The fact his Lineage Factor had activated now after Alexandre blasted a hole through his chest meant that he had truly experienced all of that.
Leonel closed his eyes once more, allowing the fluttering feathers to touch and disappear into his body. It was an absolutely beautiful sight he wasn't in the mood to enjoy.
'This burden. I will take it.'
Leonel clenched his fists.
Images of Rollan, Elise, Gertrude, Goggles, Castello… They all ran through his mind. In fact, his near infallible memory didn't stop until he had run through all more than ten thousand of his men.
Subconsciously, they all arranged themselves into their own Dreamscape, their smiling faces hovering in Leonel's Dream World as though his guardian angels smiling down at him.
At that moment, Leonel's heart was reformed and released a beat so powerful that it resonated through the endless fog.
BADDUM.
A strong surge of violet energies swirled around Leonel. Even as his eyes remained closed, an undisguised majesty made the world around him tremble.
For a long time, Leonel hadn't cared for much. He flew by the seat of his pants and followed a garbled together moral philosophy he probably couldn't express with any sort of coherency.
Why was he the way he was? What did he want to do with his life? When he breathed his last breath, would he be leaving this world with a smile? Or an endless pile of regrets?
Leonel's usual response to such things was to just ignore them all. He didn't have the answer and with is personality, he never felt like giving a half-assed one. He felt that when the day came that he had an answer, it would be the day he truly began to live.
BADDUM.
Maybe up until even the final moments, Leonel still hadn't had an answer. Or, maybe he did have the answer but was just unwilling to accept it.
The burden of accepting it was too heavy. The weight he would have to carry would be astronomical. He would likely have to spend the rest of his life chasing after something he might never catch when, somewhere deep in his heart, he only wanted a small home to share with Aina as he lived out the rest of his days.
BADDUM.
But this… Was no longer something he could run from.
He had accepted their hopes, their dreams. He had heard their last words, the final wills. He had felt their tears and soaked in their blood.
If he continued to run now, could he even be considered a man? Could he continue to wake up everyday and see his face in the mirror? Would he still be able to laugh and smile? Would he be able to look toward himself with any sort of pride? Could he face his mother… his father? Could he stand side by side with Aina with his chest broad and his back straight?
He wouldn't allow himself to fall into such depravity.
They say that everyone had the possibility of having a turning point in their lives, but Leonel had always believed that this was bullshit. No one could simply change on a dime. Becoming a better version of yourself meant making countless little decisions time and time again.
Eventually, those little decisions had led Leonel to this very place.
BADDUM.
He didn't want to be a General. He didn't want to be a soldier, a warrior… He didn't even want to be an Emperor.
He was Leonel Morales. He would be a King.