Chapter 2355: Off Switch

SHUUUUU!

The arrow shot through the air with blazing speed. The separation between Leonel and the demon monkey wasn't even a hundred meters. With their strength, even shooting arrows from tens of kilometers away could be considered to be close, let alone just a few dozen meters.

The danger Leonel was in was quite high. Even a few seconds would be too long of a counter for the time it would take the arrow to pierce his head.

Even so, Leonel seemed to be in a bit of a daze.

"... never rely on someone else for something you can do yourself..."

That was indeed his father's philosophy, even to the very end. He followed it until his dying breath, relying on nothing other than his spear.

Leonel was different from his father. He wasn't a lone wolf, and he didn't want to be one. He wanted to move forward with his brothers, with his friends, with his future wife.

That all-consuming loneliness wasn't something he wanted to experience again.

Leonel shook his head. 'That guy isn't me.'

Even so, Leonel felt that his father's words were correct. He was often careless with his path. No, he had been careless with his path until now.

That feeling of loneliness wasn't all that had consumed him; there was also that arrogance, that unwarranted, unearned, undeserved arrogance that had been a mainstay for him for so long.

Because of that, he took his steps casually, he didn't plan very much into the future, and he had made several mistakes until now, mistakes he could only say that he was lucky to receive an opportunity to correct.

Recklessly absorbing the Ability Index of someone else just because he felt that he had deduced that it was the perfect mirror image of his own was something that the Leonel of the past would have definitely done.

He would take his father's advice and apply it where it was needed, and where it wasn't needed... he would follow his own path and rely on his own thoughts just like his father had told him to.

Leonel smiled.

It was a sight that looked absolutely ridiculous, especially when there was an arrow just about to pierce right through his head. If it landed, it wouldn't just be his body that was destroyed, his Ethereal Glabella would go along with it and he would truly die.

However, his lips only slightly parted.

"Disperse."

The arrow trembled in the air and suddenly lost all of its strength and momentum. It wobbled and then fell out of the skies.

A wave of fatigue hit Leonel, but his eyes were glowing with a fierce light.

Everything seemed to line up perfectly. He even felt that he understood why it was True Sovereigns were able to become immune to all Weapon Forces of like kind.

"That Ability Index-!" Alpha Demon Monkey practically screeched.

Leonel moved again, his movements even faster than last time. Even so, the demon monkey felt that he was far easier to read and react to, but halfway there...

Leonel pulled out a wooden spear.

"You...!"

The demon monkey's eyes opened wide in shock. Leonel was very clearly a fist expert, how had he just?

He froze. The spear strike was simply too exquisite, he almost wanted to present his neck to it.

What was he thinking about just now?! Where...

His thoughts ceased. It was like the candlelight of his life was cut off, crushed instantly and so quickly that he never had a chance to realize what was happening.

Leonel flexed his wrist, the tip of his spear vibrating wildly as he pointed it to the ground.

That spear strike felt good. Very good.

It seemed that even though he had lost his True Sovereignty, the effect of having a weapon in the Impetus State was clear for all to see.

But that obviously wasn't all. It was as though he could impose his very will on the world now.

He didn't need to think that there would be such a large change immediately.

He couldn't grant titles like Alexandre had, at least not yet, but his will was far more tangible than it had been before.

And if he did take that step and speak a word... The world itself seemed to be forced to listen.

Leonel reached out a hand, and the Bow Domain Ring flew to him. He rolled it through his fingers as though it was a coin, his designation shining through as it moved so quickly that the ring blurred and then disappeared entirely.

Leonel stood in thought for a long while.

He had been focused on the Weapon Force aspect of the Domain Rings, but there was something that he had neglected: the Lineage Factors.

Why was he so excited to get his hands on the Bow Domain Ring? It obviously wasn't for the Bows; he had one in his possession that was already of the Life Grade, and his Morales Lineage Factor also now allowed him to create his own as well.

What he really wanted to do was complete the Lineage Factor and allow his eyes to become a great supplementary strength.

But his father's words echoed in his ears again.

Don't rely on others for something you could do yourself.

This alone made him hesitate, but then he thought of that little pink-eyed woman's words. She had said that the eyes provided by the Bow Domain Lineage Factor were just inferior products.

Of course, she had spoken partially out of anger, but Leonel could sense the truth in her words. She had exaggerated, but she hadn't been untruthful.

Then he thought about his own strength, how the demoness could seemingly turn off his strength as she pleased and seal him away with a thought.

He didn't know if this was just because she was obscenely powerful, or...

There was an off switch built into his very DNA.

Leonel's fingers suddenly stopped, the ring spinning on the tip of his thumb before he flicked it upward.

It never got the chance to fall down as it vanished into the Segmented Cube.

"You've all been there for a while now, is it necessary to continue to do so even now? Why don't we get acquainted?"