On one hand, there was Leonel's ability. As powerful as his Lineage Factors were, he still felt that it carried much of the burden for how he had made it this far.
On the other, there was his Spear Domain Lineage Factor. It had been mostly neglected, but now it was practically his only path toward salvation. As powerful as his King's Might Lineage Factor had the potential to be, not only did Leonel not have enough subordinates to scale it properly, it was ultimately just a supplement to strength he already had. This led him right back to his Spear Domain Lineage Factor.
Leonel's brows furrowed as the time continued to tick by.
It was an impossible question. It had taken him fractions of a second to think to this point, the moment he came up to this blockage, time seemed to flow like water, and its speed was only getting faster.
Even after 80 seconds was left, Leonel still hadn't made any headway to answering this question. Did he just have to abandon his ability entirely? But that couldn't be right. Cutting off his ability would feel no different from losing an arm to him. Who was to say that there wouldn't be a point in battle where it would be useful?
But Leonel couldn't just leave things as is. It obviously wasn't working how things were now. If he just tried to press forward, he really could be that brainless meat head the creator was trying their best to weed out completely.
60 seconds.
It was like trying to hold two extremes at once. Was it even possible?
Leonel could execute two different Styles at once because he could split his minds, but this felt even more fundamental than that. It resided on a layer deeper than just a Style and was almost ingrained into Leonel's very bones.
If he could just split his mind and solve the problem, he would have already done it.
50 seconds.
Leonel could almost feel his silver spear chuckling. The little bastard had always hated him ever since he broke the rules to reach it. He was supposed to use his comprehension of the spear to move forward, but Leonel had always used his strong Soul and Dream Force to travel further than he should have been able to. But, therein lied the problem he was forced to deal with now.
40 seconds.
Was this really days worth of thinking to a normal person? Leonel felt as though time was moving faster than it ever had for him before.
Even as his measured steps continued forward and he approached the next trial faster and faster, the coldness in his gaze seemed to only deepen.
Maybe he really had relied on his ability too much. He had been so confident that 97 seconds would be enough to think of a solution. Who other than himself would actually be so arrogant as to think that? 97 seconds wasn't even long enough to cook a proper meal, but it was enough to change the entire philosophy of a person stuck in his ways?
30 seconds.
Leonel's blood slowed to a crawl, his bodily functions shutting down one after another. This wasn't because he was feeling the looming fear of guaranteed death, but rather because he was diverting all his brain power to his singular task. He barely left just enough thought to keep his body moving forward and store away his thoughts and feelings toward Aina.
20 seconds.
Time was like an endless drain on Leonel's psyche at this point. No matter how hard he wracked his brain, he couldn't find a solution.
He felt as though he was stuck in a box. His thinking was too rigid almost as though he was a two dimensional construct observing something created by a third dimensional construct. He had a viewpoint that wouldn't allow him to understand no matter how hard he tried.
Understanding… This was the first time Leonel had ever run into something he truly couldn't wrap his head around.
Should he just do it? Should he just give in?
If he didn't change something, he would be finished anyway. Wasn't it better if he just took a leap of faith and hope that his instinct could carry him through this battle?
But… Why was it that he had such a strong revulsion toward such a thing? He felt as though he was ripping out a piece of his own soul just thinking about something like this…
10 seconds.
Leonel's jaw steeled. He was less than a hundred meters away. He felt like he had overturned every possibility and simulated everything he could.
At this point, he felt that he had wasted his time. Would he have been in a better situation if he had turned all of his brain power toward formulating new Star Elemental Force spells?
However, Leonel knew that this was a foolish thought to have. Even he would need days to formulate new Mage Arts that could battle near and at a Fifth Dimensional level. Even if he dug through his memories and found some Arts from Camelot, they would all be at a Third to Fourth Dimensional level at best.
5 seconds.
Leonel had no choice. He unleashed all more than thousand of his split minds.
Waves of emotion he had long since suppressed practically blindsided him despite the fact he thought he was ready. But it still caused him to lose a second, his mind spiraling into a well of memories.
4 seconds.
"… It's not the first time I've seen it."
Aina's voice might as well have been whispering into his ears. The wererat and the other weremen lay dead beneath their blades and the man's primitive consciousness had taken hold of Leonel's body, forcing him to pull down his pants.
Even now, Leonel had no idea what Aina had meant by that. What did she mean she had seen it before?
3 seconds.
Leonel's footsteps froze. He faced a line the demarcated his life and death.
He hadn't even taken the first step toward his goal yet. Would he really die like this?