Chapter 2745: Split in Two

A bird's cry resonated through the skies and feathers flourished.

A Snowy Star Owl appeared, a gorgeous creature to be sure. It had snowy white tufts around his neck, its feathers a gleaming white with veins of delicate gold. Every time it flapped its wings, a snowy rain of feathers would fall.

Compared to the first time Leonel had entered a Challenge Sequence, these creatures were on another level. This Snowy Start Owl alone had a wingspan of almost four meters, and when it bore down on him from above, it felt like it could decide his life and death with a thought.

It could truly begin to exude some of the majesty of a true Envoy of Creation, a beast that wasn't just a Sixth Dimensional Lineage Factor, but one that had been a God Beast amongst Gods.

Leonel met its gaze and he grinned. His Dream Force flourished and his robes and crown of silvery gold took shape around him.

His crown hovered above his head like a halo and his pale violet hair danced more like strands of light rather than tangible filaments.

He reached out with a hand and a rain of Force Arts took shape around him, an Auspicious Air that could resonate with the most ancient of bells blooming forth.

Natural Force Arts began to take shape and descended from the skies not much unlike the feathers of the bird above him. At the same time, the aura of a Wise Star Order flourished and he seemed to stand above the masses.

"What are you doing up there?" Leonel spoke, his spear finally solidifying in his palm only to become an arrow on the bow that formed in his other. "Don't you think you're a bit too arrogant?"

Leonel grinned, pointing his spear-bow at the skies.

BANG!

The spear shot upward, the rain of Natural Force Arts forming a bronze spiral around it. Space shuddered and the wind was sliced apart.

The Snowy Star Owl sensed danger and it rushed to veer to the side, but a gaping wound was torn right through its wing.

Leonel flicked his wrist and the bow disappeared, another spear taking shape. As with all Challenge Sequences, he could only use Dream Force unless there were special external items. But in this form of Challenge Sequence, it wasn't allowed. As such, you would live and die by your Dream Force manipulation.

This made people think that they had Leonel pegged perfectly, but they hadn't known one very specific thing.

Not only had Leonel broken through, allowing him the capability of displaying far more power now than he had ever done in the past, but he was utilizing something now that he hadn't used in the first round.

Natural Force Arts.

Force Arts were the easiest method of increasing the power of your Dream Force. It was a conduit through which one could give their Dream Force shape. If you lacked a Dream Sovereignty, this was the best option available to you if you couldn't bring in external treasures.

But, it was also precisely because Leonel was a Dream Sovereign that he hadn't been able to partake in this power boost. What a Force Art could provide, his Dream Sovereignty already did. And any Force Art that could provide more than his Dream Sovereignty would take far too long to draw in battle.

What they didn't know was that with his Control Ability Index, even large and complex Force Arts could be drawn by Leonel near instantaneously. He just had to trigger a protocol and his Dream Force would move on its own even without his input.

But even more importantly than that... How could they know that to Leonel, creating Natural Force Art was as easy as breathing?

Leonel's spear solidified and he appeared before the descended bird. It sent out a claw strike right at his throat, but his spear danced in response.

Beneath his feet, bronze Natural Force Arts bloomed. With every step he took, like the delicate lotuses of spring, another bloomed.

Unbeknownst to those watching, at that moment, all the accumulating Dream Force in the region had come together, wrapping around Leonel's spear tip in a spiral that almost made it look more like a lance than his usual pole arm of choice.

The claw of the Snowy Star Owl was obliterated and a rain of Snow Force fell. The Snowy Star Owl's coat of feathers glowed and it seemed to be protected by a coat of crystals in an instant. But by then, it had already lost the use of a wing and a claw, its balance was thrown completely off and there didn't seem to be anything that it could do as Leonel bore down on it again, the wild grin on his face only growing larger and larger.

He could remember the Owlan city vividly. Every street, every building was so meticulously planned and sculpted that even while just standing there, they allowed the flow of Force to dance to the rhythm of the world.

This unique rhythm, this resonance, it called out to Leonel. The Dream Force whispered in his ear and for the first time in a long while, his Mage Core responded to the call.

The long forgotten Natural Force Art he had claimed from the Merlin Trials, the very one that wrapped around the base of his Mage Core turned vibrant, ancient tree thrummed.

Every Natural Force Art Leonel formed became like another tonic for it and the individual leaves of his Mage Core danced.

At that point, his influence had flourished so far and wide that even the Dream Force a hundred kilometers away on Patriarch Khafra's mountain peak was being stripped away.

Leonel's hearty laughter filled the skies.

He kept having to suppress himself, kept having to tiptoe around these people, how could he not be frustrated?

But at least for today and the coming weeks...

He would let his beast run wild.

His hair danced and his spear struck, splitting the world in two.