Chapter 2254: Key

Alienor smiled lightly, pinching Leonel's cheeks as though he was still a little boy. She hadn't gotten to do this and took pleasure in every second. Unfortunately, she didn't get to see Leonel's embarrassed expression, she was certain that a 26-year-old having his cheeks pinched by his mom like this might react with a blush, but Leonel only stared at her with certainty and stability.

Inwardly, she couldn't help but laugh to herself. Confidence and self-assurance wasn't something that Leonel lacked, half of her speech was probably useless. Her son didn't gain validation from others, but the problem was that he was walking down a path of cruelty that was almost impossible to turn back from, and she wasn't sure that she had helped him turn back.

She could only hope that he would have more control over his emotions. At the very least, exposing their relationship so that he would have a reason to get into another fight was far beneath him, and he likely knew this as well.

Alienor released Leonel and the latter raised his hand. With a flash, his body changed, growing about half a foot. His eyes turned golden and his pupils became sharp, slit lines. His hair turned a furious and aggressive white gold color that shone like the sun, and his usually facial hair-free face gained just as aggressive sideburns.

His canines lengthened and claws grew from his hands. His heart thumped like the growl of a wild beast and the bloodlines of the Luxnix before him seemed to cool into an icy flow, their bodies freezing in place. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't seem to muster up the courage to fight back.

Alienor nodded slightly. Leonel had indeed had a non-violent method of dealing with these people. What was the Snowy Star Owl Lineage Factor to the Golden Tiger Lineage Factor? Especially when one of his arms was coated with the God Beast of Creation.

The two walked by, and the members of the Luxnix seemed to resign themselves to the situation. What else could they do? It was clear that this son of their Matriarch was far beyond their understanding.

When they had entered the temple, one that was once again extremely familiar to Leonel, his expression couldn't help but become serious, if it was even possible for his current self to become any more serious.

In the position of where Leonel had first found the Bronze Tablet... it was still there. The difference was that there was a Silver Tablet present as well, and on top of that... a Golden Tablet.

Confusion painted Leonel's thoughts. Why would this be here? And if it was here now, then why wasn't it here in the future?

"Logic" would tell him that it was because he had taken it here and now, so how could it be here in the future. But then why didn't everything else work like that?

He had just destroyed the world of Dimensional Cleanse, so how was it there for him to benefit from in the future? It was clear and obvious that time didn't work linearly, so something else must have taken it. But then what did that mean for...

'The Timeless Event.'

Leonel's pupils constricted. El'Rion had said that there should be a Timeless Event that occurred here, so where was it. Unless...

'The Shadow Tail.'

Leonel's thoughts spun. The time around a Timeless Event should be stricter in flow that other points in time. It was easier to snip, loop and rearrange normal points in time, but a Timeless Event was fixed. What happened here would definitely reverberate into the future.

It seemed that Leonel was very much correct to not kill that man with a single fist. Had he, depending on what relation he had to himself, he could have very well ended up ending his own life.

Leonel didn't have the cold shiver of a reaction one might expect from such a revelation. If anything, it had only emboldened him because it only meant that he was correct once again. Something had told him to be cautious, and listening to his inner voice and his calculation abilities had never failed him.

'Then what does it mean if I took those that should have become the members of the Viola family. What would change?'

The moment Leonel had this thought, he immediately sat down where he was. Without a word, he entered an intense state of meditation.

Alienor wasn't to say something, but she held back. She had tried meditating on the Golden Tablet as well, she thought that with her talent it would be a simple thing to see what was on the other side. She had already formed the Starry Tailed Fox Lineage Factor long before anyone else in the Luxnix had.

As she had expected, things flowed smoothly from one step to the next, and she formed the Twinkling Light Bear Lineage Factor, and then soon succeeded in forming the Golden Tiger Lineage Factor although it had taken her much more effort.

But when she got to the golden tablet, she couldn't even sense what the creature hidden deep within was, let alone comprehending it. She even felt, for the first time in her life, even if she dedicated years to it she would never succeed.

What she didn't know, though, was that Leonel wasn't attempting to meditate on the Golden Tablet at all. With a single glance, he knew his current body didn't have what it took. It would be nothing more than a waste of time.

If he had to guess what it would take, he would have to do one of three things. Either become a Light and Star Sovereign, raise his Scarlet Star Force Innate Node to at least the Eighth Dimension, probably nearer the pinnacle and close to the Ninth, or comprehend both Light and Star Force to the Life State.

He would reach that level one day, but that wasn't today. His goal was different.