Leonel reclined in the Segmented Cube and watched the events unfold. He didn't even make a move. All he did was tell Shan'Rae to prepare to escape, and that was all.
The instant the palm appeared high above and began to press down, it was like the world was being compressed. An imprint perfectly formed to the hand had already appeared on the ground even while the palm was still among the clouds. It was the greatest form of energy control that Leonel had ever seen.
And then the destruction was wrought.
The hand was still several kilometers high above when the first of the Void Race members could no longer handle it and exploded into rains of blood.
Leonel smiled from within the Segmented Cube, almost carelessly collecting the blood for the sake of his wife and never looking back even a single time.
When the palm was a kilometer above, he signaled for Shan'Rae, who had been "fighting" against it, to run. Then, the Segmented Cube entered its shuttle form and shot into the distance.
BOOM!
Behind them, the world collapsed and over half of the Void Race army crumbled.
Leonel almost couldn't stop himself from laughing. This was excellent, almost too good. He had already expected for this to happen, but for some reason, unlike his usual cold indifference when his calculations bore fruit... he just felt happy this time.
He realized what it was soon after.
His heart was lighter. Although he had just been through a lot, he hadn't lost anyone. If anything, there was just more pressure on his shoulders, and it was a weight that he had to bear alone.
He didn't realize it in the past, but this weight almost always had an effect on his mood, and that was because there was some cognitive dissonance going on in his mind.
If he was really so confident about everything, then why did he feel pressure? Why did he feel the weight at all? Shouldn't he be casual and unbothered by everything?
He often pretended that he was unbothered, but was this truly the case?
The obvious answer was no. He felt that weight every time; it was just that he put up a facade, a barrier to protect himself, a false seed ingrained into his very mind that made him feel more superior than he really experienced on the inside.
But now, he truly felt like himself. He truly felt like Leonel Morales, the man his father had raised him to be and the man he was meant to be.
There had been some gloom, some rage about his so-called grandmother, and fury toward the actions of the Gods, all of whom were obsessed with suppressing a "little" human like him.
At the same time as all of this was going on, organizations hidden in the darkness of the Mortal and Demi-God Realms had no choice but to take action as well. All of their plans had been moved up just like the Owlans' and Fallen God Beasts' plans had been.
All the while, the God Races sent several squadrons of people downward, all with one goal: to eliminate Leonel.
However, what they didn't expect was that when they descended, rather than finding themselves in a battle with Leonel, they found themselves in an even more heated battle with the Owlans.
Because of Leonel's attacks with Shan'Rae on their people, the Alliance had been thrown into chaos. When they saw so many Gods taking action, battle sparked practically immediately. There was simply no escaping it.
As such, the storm seemed to only be growing larger and larger while Leonel was having fun annoying his wife.
...
"... Mm... I was just about to break through!"
"Break through something else..." Leonel murmured without thinking very much.
He suddenly felt a hand slide down his back in response.
"Hey! Hey! That's not what I meant!" Leonel jumped in horror.
Aina's giggles echoed.
"Heh, you think you're a comedian, huh?"
Leonel grinned evilly and flipped his wife around.
Aina was shocked as she thought Leonel was about to do something insane.
She sighed a breath of relief and then moaned when he slid into the right hole.
But then her eyes widened and her legs curled when a thumb slid in where it shouldn't.
Her entire world was overturned, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head.