Chapter 2377: Cut Deep

Leonel never thought that his father would ask him to do something he had never done. Never mind the fact that his father would never admit to it either. It could only be said that the programming of the AI likely had his father rolling in his grave.

"How am I supposed to do something you couldn't?" Leonel asked speechlessly.

"Who said I couldn't? Couldn't and didn't are too different words, brat. Don't curse me from beyond the grave."

Leonel laughed beside himself. Now that, that was a more typical answer.

"Then why didn't you?" Leonel asked.

"Because I didn't want to deal with the hassle. My foundation was already imperfect because I practiced the Conventional Path to the Seventh Dimension, one more imperfection wasn't going to make or break me."

Leonel frowned. It sounded more like his father had a method that he could have used but chose not to.

Suddenly his eyes widened in understanding.

"I see you get it now. The Constellation of families and that of the self aren't too indifferent. In fact, they're built on the same foundation: Universal Force. In truth, forming a family's Constellation is much more difficult because it requires a combination of the wills and comprehensions of several people. It takes a real hero to do that.

"Back then, I was a lonewolf and couldn't be bothered. Plus, those annoying elders had pissed me off one too many times."

"Because of grandpa? Or because of the demon faction?"

"Neither," Velasco's AI snorted. "They actually tried to reprimand me for choosing the Conventional Path instead of the God Path, and some of those old relics tried to take my right to become an Heir away.

"So I said fuck them. I became more powerful than every one of them before the Heir War and put them on their asses.

"Then I didn't participate in the Heir War at all because it was a waste of my time. Those spineless cowards wouldn't do what I wanted them to do anyway. We should have just directly conquered the Dimensional Verse.

"But then I met your mother and I didn't want to step on my father-in-law's toes so I didn't let them convince me even when they did finally get their shit together."

Leonel shook his head, not even knowing what to say.

Before the Heir Wars? His dad couldn't have been more than 40 years old at worst at the time. Leonel didn't know which Nebula his father was, but he was Montez's elder brother, so he was probably higher ranked than not, maybe even the First Nebula.

Adawarth was already nearing his thirties the first time Leonel met him, and the Heir Wars would have happened within a half decade had the Cataclysm Zone not descended.

That meant that his father was more likely than not in his early thirties, maybe five or six years older than Leonel was now.

Leonel couldn't imagine becoming that strong so quickly without this sort of guidance, but his father had done it on his own.

"How do I use the Morales Constellation to reach that level myself?" Leonel asked. "I'm not even in the Dimensional Verse right now, and I don't think I can return anytime soon."

"You don't have to. The moment it formed, every Morales gained a kernel of it within them. The location is irrelevant. In fact, the less Morales there are, the stronger you'll be able to sense it, not that it would have been difficult for you anyway considering you have the Morales World Spirit."

Leonel's brows shot up before his mood sank.

From his father's words-"the less Morales there are"-it was clear that he likely guessed even from beyond the grave what the fate of the Morales would be. He too felt that Leonel's presence wouldn't have changed anything.

But that left more questions than answers. If his father knew, why was he so obsessed with King? Shouldn't his anger be directed toward the Demoness instead?

If his father had been alive, how could the Morales have been so vulnerable even if he wasn't there? If he was powerful enough to deal with even King, what threat would the human alliance of the Vast Bubble be? The moment he left the Dimensional Verse, he could have broken into the Ninth Dimension and become a level of existence that was nigh unmatchable.

Leonel hesitated. He didn't want to ask the question. It would imply he was doubting his father. But the question was burning a hole through his tongue.

Eventually, it came out anyway. If he was ever going to ask, it would have to be right now.

"If you knew, then why?"

Leonel expected to hear a sigh, maybe a pause, maybe some lament. But it was then that the AI chose to remind him that it was, in fact, an AI. It had been asked a question, and so it would answer to the fullest extent of the truth that it knew.

It answered immediately.

"I had escaped the range of her influence. I shed her Lineage Factor and her chains. My only regret is that I could not do the same for you and my little brother.

"If I had stepped out of the Dimensional Verse, what I could do would be limited. I've had enough conversations with your mother's father to know the true extent of the strength and power out there.

"I had already reached the very limits of this Incomplete World. The only way for me to progress further would be to see what was out there, but if I left... that woman wouldn't allow a variable out of her control to spread their wings.

"So I paved a path for you and Montez instead. So long as she feels like she can still toy with you on a puppet string, she will allow you to live.

"King wasn't someone I slayed just for selfish reasons. With him out of the way, things will be easier on your mother's father, and so long as you can survive until he is ready, both you, your mother, and your uncle will have a chance to stake a place for yourselves in the outside world."

There it was again.

Words that Leonel was certain his father would never admit to if he had been alive.

And they cut deep.