Chapter 2309: A Mess

The Ancestors of the Spirituals Religion, all of whom were ready to take action, felt as though their bodies had frozen. A dangerous aura locked onto them and it felt like if they took just a single step in any direction, their heads would be pierced through.

They were all Ancestors, and Leonel was just using puppets. Just how could he have the strength to make them feel threatened to the point that they were immobilized?

What they didn't know is that by having the Ancestors consume their own bodies during the formation of their souls, they were actually at least 50% stronger than they would be otherwise. They were closer now to Overlords than they were to normal Ancestors.

This was a lesser form of [Breathe] that came from the weaker techniques of the Emperor's Might Lineage, known as [Cannibalize]. It could be used on the corpse of a soul alongside [Arise] to make them stronger.

This, though, as an imperfect form of [Breathe], had some drawbacks. Normally, a soul would last 24 hours in Leonel's possession, but a soul that had [Cannibalize] used on it would last no more than an hour.

But this wasn't the only reason why the corpses fell so much more powerful. The real reason for that was because of the improvement to Leonel's Dream Force, namely his connection to the Dream Plane.

Now, he couldn't just perfectly direct his soul constructs, he could infuse his own comprehensions and incorporate his very will into his commands.

One could use the Dream Plane to push people in certain directions, but they would ultimately only act within the bounds of their own personalities. It would take many years of manipulation, and constant attempts to get someone to do something they wouldn't normally do.

However, the will of Leonel's soul constructs was to do whatever he wanted them to do. That meant that his control over their impulsions was perfect.

On the surface, this seemed like a minor thing. Couldn't he just control them with his mind normally? What was the use of this seemingly extra, useless step?

But there was an important difference. Not only could Leonel command his souls to act and react faster, he could mold their minds and change their tendencies to exactly what he wanted. When it came to soul constructs like this that already had a foundation that matched his will...

He could give them his skill in the bow.

The five Ancestor's auras roared to life. In that moment, their bows, which had just been surging with a silvery white Bow Force, seemed to shatter, streams of light dispersing and them reforming into a blinding golden streak.

Right then, five Bow Sovereigns were born. And not only that, but they each had the power of an Ancestor backing them.

In a single bound, they went from a half-step to the Overlord ranks, to true Overlords.

Five Overlord Bow Sovereigns.

They had never been this powerful in their lives, but in death... they stepped into a realm of strength and power they could never have imagined.

Maxx's expression became serious. He had only attacked once, and yet the situation had changed so resoundingly. Just how...

"Stop, don't!" Maxx roared as he saw that Tracilia had taken out some sort of orb. If he could have stopped her from even taking it out in the first place, he would have. But that ship had already sailed. "If Poppy comes here, your World Spirit will be taken away in an instant. I wasn't lying."

Tracilia shivered and put the communication device away, but then a cold wind passed by her neck.

She turned back slowly, and what she saw made her heart feel as though it had been hollowed out.

Five bows. Five arrows. Five echoing twangs. Five deaths of her brothers and sisters.

The Ancestors of the Spirituals Religion were still rushing forward, seemingly not even having realized that they died. But the bloody holes in their heads painted a different picture, one of bleak sadness.

Could this have been avoided?

Leonel didn't make a move, standing calmly. But it was like five of him were aiming their bows. Looking forward, neither Maxx or Tracilia could even quite feel their individual auras any longer, it was like they had instead become clones of the young man who stood in their midst.

Maxx realized that he couldn't allow things to stay as they were. He moved like lightning, his very body seeming to carry the aura of the sword.

Two arrows appeared to his left and his right, but his Absolute Sword Domain took shape, shredding them to pieces.

His thumb rubbed along the spatial ring Tracilia had returned to him and a rusted sword appeared in his palm. It looked as though a single swing might cause it to collapse, becoming nothing more than flakes of metal dancing in the wind. And yet, when he made his move, it was like the world had been split in two.

Leonel looked into his eyes.

People, relationships, complex webs of emotion... Nothing was ever simple due to these things. It should have all been easy. He already had Maxx on his side, his army had already surrounded the Half Spirituals, he had already been just a step from victory...

But things had ended up like this because humans were complex creatures that rarely, if ever, acted logically. He was no different, that he knew. As much as he tried to peel himself away from those more human layers of him, he couldn't escape it.

He was realizing every day just how much pressure his future self had placed on him. He even understood that much of his "cold logic" came not from the fact that he was some sort of psychopath, or even from the fact that he preferred logic over all...

It was just a coping mechanism.

Looking at the world like it was an array of numbers, of buttons to push and sliders to adjust, that was much easier than looking at it for what it really was...

An imperfect blob of a mess.

The five archer Overlords around Leonel shifted and seemed to form an odd Force Art with just five nodes between themselves.

'So, is this how it works? I guess so.'

Their auras doubled once again and Maxx's strength was drowned out.