Chapter 2253: Deserved

"There's something else I want to show you," Alienor said after Leonel had finished.

Alienor led Leonel through the somewhat familiar catacombs again, but this time, there was a barrier up ahead, one formed by the Luxnix family. It seemed that they had almost guessed that this was where Alienor would go. Or rather, they had assumed that this would be the first location she brought Leonel, and had even begun doubting their own judgment until they finally appeared.

Leonel moved, but Alienor held his shoulder, stopping him. She didn't use a lot of Force, but Leonel wouldn't just casually brush off his own mother's arm, at least she thought so. And luckily, he didn't seem to be rage-fueled enough to do so.

She lied lightly. Leonel was too smart to casually let something so detrimental to them slip. He probably only called her mom so that he would have someone to fight, it was uncharacteristic, but what it told Alienor was that her son was still very much a child.

Leonel might be 26, but it was hard to grow and mature when everything came so easy to you, and even more difficult when you had to fake much of your outward appearance.

Alienor knew exactly what that felt like. This wasn't just because she was a princess with a father like Emperor Fawkes, but it was also because she was extremely talented from a young age. It took her a long while, and meeting Velasco, to finally mature into the woman she was today. But even then, she had had her mother.

Velasco's method of raising Leonel had grown into a self-confident, and perfect warrior. He could face the battlefield without a change to his expression, and even smile at that. He was a true Morales.

Alienor didn't hate what her husband had chosen to do. Velasco had likely known the kind of situation they were in and that very soon, they would have to face a world far larger than their own. However, it had still neglected Leonel as a person.

Not entirely, of course. Because Velasco knew the type of person Leonel was, he was able to mold Leonel's character with just two words, Respect and Persistence. Another child wouldn't understand such an abstract thing, but Leonel had grown around those two words, slowly molding their definitions into his own understanding until he became a level-headed man who could see right from wrong...

He still knew right from wrong. His mind was more than sharp enough to grasp it, he just didn't care right now. And that was what was missing. When logic couldn't lead Leonel to why he should care, then something else had to.

Alienor ignored everyone else and looked Leonel in the eyes, cupping both of his cheeks. The billowing black fog that came from the corner of his eyes singed her hands and burnt them slowly, but she didn't seem to notice, looking toward Leonel deeper and deeper as though she was trying to understand something.

"Little Lion, my father said something about you that I can't quite understand, but I still believe to be true. He said you and your father are the two greatest men he's ever met. Do you want to prove the both of us wrong?"

Leonel didn't say anything, looking at his mother. He would feel much better if he could just steamroll them all, he knew he would. He hadn't vented nearly enough against the Shadow Tail, it just wasn't as satisfying when it wasn't his own raw power, it wasn't as pleasing.

"Your father was a man who held this sort of rage within himself, but do you know what happened when he lost control over his own mind? He harmed Anastasia, a companion that had been by his side for countless years.

"The Void Palace, the deeper, hidden branches of the Morales family, the Three Finger Cult, these were all existences that your father could have destroyed whenever he wanted. It would have been easy, just a snap of his fingers. Do you know why he didn't? Why he let them insult him behind his back? To show fear in his face, and yet scheme against his interests in the dark? Do you believe that your father was stupid, Little Lion?"

Leonel's fists clenched, the billowing trail of smoke becoming thicker and thicker.

Alienor's hands were practically black now, but she still didn't release Leonel's cheeks, her eyes looking at him with a slightly watery look.

"It's because they weren't worth his time, it's because he had a bigger, larger goal, it's because he was able to place down his temporary satisfaction for the sake of something larger than himself. He couldn't gain satisfaction from others, he could only find it within himself.

"There'll no doubt be many who speculate about your father's death, many ignorant people who don't understand what he truly faced and believe that he had simply overestimated himself. Did he ever spare a thought for those people? Did he even care to look at them?"

Leonel's fists were clenched so hard that they twitched despite his usual steady control, the space around them splintering beneath a roaring wave of destruction.

Leonel took deep breaths, the winds in the surroundings growing agitated before he slowly calmed down.

He had lost count of the number of people he had killed to vent his rage. He had once always kept track of the exact number, but it was lost to him now, dancing within a dense blob of memories beyond him and only accessible to his enlightened self. And it was possible that even he hadn't bothered to count.

The number was easily in the trillions, an impossible number, vast and endless as the rivers of blood...

And yet the rage was still there, it was still smoldering, it was still overflowing, boiling and rattling as though his body was a lid it was trying to pop off.

He hadn't made those that had actually attacked his father pay, they were already dead at his hands. It had all been meaningless, a vast chasm of emptiness that only deepened with every death, many of whom had done nothing at all and were as innocent as could be.

Did he feel bad? No, he really couldn't bring himself to, he didn't have the capacity anymore.

Did he know it was wrong...? That, at least he could admit.

He closed his eyes and the smokiness ebbed into a slow stream once more.

Did he want this wrath to disappear?

No.

But he would direct it to where it was deserved.