Leonel couldn't help but chuckle to himself. This sniper rifle would have even more components than his Divine Armor, yet comparing the difficult he had in creating his armor versus how almost easy it felt to finish it, it was almost surreal.
"You're not abandoning the bow so I assume this gun will be very powerful?"
Leonel nodded. "Very. It will probably be able to blow a hole right through a mountain. If that mountain was in the Fourth Dimension, it would probably be able to level it completely."
Aina blinked, looking at Leonel's side profile.
If there was one thing Leonel never did, it was exaggerate in order to gain her awe and affection. Aina didn't believe he consciously did this knowing that she would like it. Rather, it was just how he was. He was confident enough in himself to feel that he didn't need to lie to impress people, and he had always been like this.
Plus, hadn't he already gotten her now? He had even less of a need to try to impress her now compared to the past. Yet, he had still said these words.
That only meant one thing to Aina: He meant them.
It had never truly sunk in for Aina just how good Leonel was at Force Crafting. Even before learning he had such a skill, she had been in awe of Crafters for a long time already. She could remember memories of her father speaking about the experts who forged the battle ax Heirloom she wielded even to this day. From a young age, she had been indoctrinated into believing how special they were.
So, when the day came that her man seemed capable of completing things even they found difficult with ease, it was so surreal that she sometimes forgot Leonel was on such a level.
Watching him focus so diligently on even the smallest of parts like this left her with an unknown feeling in her heart.
"… What about the recoil? Will you be alright?"
Leonel grinned when he heard this.
"This is what's so special about this sniper rifle. I built it with the specifications of my Metal Body and Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor in mind. Even if it lands in the hands of another, it might as well be scrap metal.
"At its lowest setting, blasting a hole through the head of someone at Tier 8 and even 9 if their defenses aren't great would be as easy as me pulling the trigger. At least if this Tier 8 or 9 individual is in the quadrant of the universe, anyway.
"But, at the highest setting, if I go all out, someone at Tier 3 or 4, even 5 of the Fifth Dimension would definitely have to dodge out of the way. Though, I could probably only make such a shot once or twice."
Aina blinked, finding it all to be almost too ridiculous.
"That doesn't fix the problem of recoil. You'd end up blasting a hole through yourself." Aina frowned.
Even hearing this, Leonel's grin only grew wider.
"That's only if the bullet's strength came from within the sniper rifle itself. But, that would make the design too boring."
Aina raised her brows.
**
The days passed quickly and the time for the second round was already upon them. Unfortunately, while the start of the second round wasn't a surprise, the circumstances were very different.
For one, it turned out that the reason the Milky Way Guild agreed to act as their third party was if and only if they could profit from their internal struggle.
A fight for power between four of the Milky Way's most powerful organizations? Who wouldn't want to watch such entertainment? And, those who didn't want it for entertainment would definitely want to know the outcome. This battle alone could change the landscape of the entire galaxy, or at the very least, the quadrant they shared.
Unsurprisingly, then, the Milky Way Guild sold countless seats, both real and virtual. By the time the Valiant Heart youths walked into the indoor arena the guild usually set aside for entertainment, it was packed to the walls with people.
The atmosphere was rowdy and humid, the shouts of the people above threatening to be even more violent than the winds outside.
But, that was only the first surprise. And even then, it was only a surprise to some of them. It was clear that the others had already expected as much.
What they didn't expect, though, was for the established rules to suddenly be thrown away.
What should have been a simple elimination tournament with a perfect number of 32 had suddenly become something completely different. While Valiant Heart should have had the leverage to fight against this, for some odd reason, this change gained the approval of the Milky Way Guild.
It was clear that their supposed 'neutral' third party had a certain loyalty… and that was to money. There was no doubt that this change would be far more entertaining.
What once was a elimination tournament had become a nine versus nine rotation battle. The three organizations were no longer even pretending to be separate, opting to combine their strengths into one from the very beginning.
Just like this, Valiant Heart which should have had over 20 participating members was forced to cut their options back down to nine, three of which were already taken up by their seeded geniuses. How could they not be infuriated?
Yet, they couldn't even sulk and bask in this fury. It was simply too difficult. With the rowdy crowd only getting louder as the event was introduced, they couldn't even simmer, feeling as though the entire world was laughing at their struggles.
As Leonel listened to Hutchin slowly explain the changes, he remained silent. At the very least, Hutchin's own calmness seemed to say that he expected something like this. Either that, or this was just his disposition.
Hopefully, if it was the former, he had a plan to deal with this beyond today.
"I'll go first." Leonel suddenly said.
Many eyes looked over toward him, including Hutchin. Usually, they would save the most powerful for last. And though the elders weren't convinced that Leonel was this most powerful individual, he was at the very least not the weakest.
But Leonel only shrugged, not explaining himself.
In this sort of environment, facing this sort of hostility, you couldn't let your enemy linger around.
If Valiant Heart won by a close shave, there were any number of steps the three organizations could take and still come out clean. However, if they were crushed, whittling to nothing before the eyes of so many, even if they took those steps, they would only be seen as bottom feeders and shameless.
If Valiant Heart was lucky, the latter path should save them a few more years. Leonel would gladly accept these years too as they would only help him.
"Okay." Hutchin agreed.
Leonel smiled and winked toward Aina, leaping for the stage to find a cloaked figure waiting for him.
'This must be the first of their secret seeded geniuses? What's the point of still wearing a cloak now? If I want to see who you are, it won't be very difficult.'
Just as Leonel was about to pry through this person's cloaked defenses, something he had never expected to happen, happened.
The cloaked figure froze, shuttering for a moment. And then, they yelled something that caught Leonel completely off guard.
"CAPTAIN!"
"Ah…" Leonel's lips hung partially open.
'Dammit…' Leonel thought. '… This just got a hundred times more complicated.'