Chapter 381 - Shield Cross Stars

Published Mar 10, 2026, 05:30 PM

Leonel didn't spare any more thoughts toward Jerach. He didn't feel that it was a shame nor did he feel any sense of self pity. He was already focusing on another task already. This was just the kind of person Leonel was. At most, Leonel was now certain that there was something important about his home world he needed to find out on this planet. Though he didn't know exactly what it was, he would be able to find out. But, first… Leonel locked himself into the same top floor room of his Abode. He split one portion of his mind to monitor Zilar's situation and another to make sure that the little mink was alright, then he prepared to enter the Lab Setting. Just as he was doing so, his lip curled as he sensed a fiery pillar of darkness shoot into the skies as the little mink claimed an abode of his own. Of course, this was done through the little guy's connection with Leonel. So, technically, it was Leonel claiming another. But, it brought a smile to Leonel's face regardless before he once again became serious. He didn't care about what commotion this would cause, he had something much more important in mind. Now that he had broken into the Fourth Dimension with his Spirit Pressure, he could search Aliard's mind without worrying about the consequences. Leonel entered the Lab Setting and brought out the snowglobe that held Aliard. With a thought, the mental mage appeared, still shackled by illusory chains. Aliard coughed violently, his gaze showing hints of confusion as he looked around. When he looked up and saw Leonel standing above him, a hint of rage and trepidation could be seen in his eyes. Over this period of time, Leonel had been allowing the Suspended Animation ability of the Segmented Cube to slowly heal Aliard. So, compared to the manic state the mental mage had been in before, he was much better now. Of course, Leonel had no idea how rare treasures that could heal mental injuries were. If he did, he would know that he had taken the Segmented Cube for granted once more. That said, Leonel hadn't done this for Aliard's sake but rather his own. The more whole Aliard's memories were, the easier things would be on him. If he was picking through memory fragments, it would be a pain and maybe even difficult to piece together the true story. Leonel didn't spare any words for Aliard. He found it to be a waste of his time. So, without hesitation, he activated [Mind Search]. Aliard's eyes widened before a sinister light shone in his eyes. He thought that Leonel was foolish trying to use such a technique on a mental mage like him. He almost salivated at the thought of turning Leonel into a mindless slave. But, when he felt the strength of Leonel's Spirit Pressure, he paled. How was this the strength of someone in the Third Dimension? It was impossible! It was then he thought of a shocking possibility. "It can't be.. you can't have…!" Aliard knew things that the others of Camelot had not. After all, he wasn't a part of the original legend, he had been sent in by his organization to infiltrate and capture the core treasure. But, it was precisely because of this that he was shocked. Everyone knew that it was impossible to break into the Fourth Dimension with the mind unless the body was strong enough. Doing so without a solid foundation would lead to one imploding in on themselves. Yet, Leonel's body was definitely still within the Third Dimension. In addition, the Force that circulated his body was also considered to be within the Third. It shouldn't have been possible to do this unless… Unless Leonel had an ability or a Lineage Factor that allowed him to circumvent these rules. Unfortunately for Aliard, Leonel had not just one of these things, but both. Aliard fell into despair as he felt his memories being eaten away at. No matter how hard he fought back, Leonel's mind was like a violent swarm. [Mind Search] was a truly sinister technique. A more accurate title would most definitely be [Mind Swallow]. To say that one was searching was completely inaccurate. The truth of what Leonel was doing was ingesting all the memories that were useful to him and discarding all those that weren't. Due to the style of the technique, Leonel had to build a bridge between his mind and Aliard's. This meant that when he found a memory to be useless, rather than it remaining with Aliard, it dissipated along the bridge, leaving Aliard with nothing. If the two of their minds have been of similar strength, this bridge would cause a tug of war to erupt. However, Leonel's mind was so much stronger than Aliard's that it was nothing but child's play. Aliard's helplessness soon became dullness, then was replaced by a complete vacancy as he fell over, drool leaking from the side of his mouth. Leonel didn't spare the brain-dead man a single glance. He closed his eyes, organizing and sifting through everything he had just learned. The first thing he realized was that Aliard didn't know much. However, this much was to be expected, he should have been fairly low on the totem pole. Still, for an organization that just expected Leonel to hand over all evidence of their crimes, they didn't take many precautions either. Finally, Leonel learned of the name of the organization he was dealing with. The name that so many avoided speaking of. Shield Cross Stars. It was only now Leonel understood how unlucky he was. This so-called Shield Cross Stars organization was actually a police force of the universe. Its duty was to protect the safety and humanitarian rights of beasts and humanoids across the worlds. The main issue here was that Leonel had never expected that the same organization he had slighted by not handing in evidence of their wrongdoing was the very same organization that happened to brand him as a fugitive worth monitoring. Was it just a coincidence? Or had they targeted him on purpose? From Leonel's analysis, he was fairly certain that it truly was a coincidence. But, if he was correct, just how unlucky was he? Now, an organization that had it out for him also knew his location at all times? "… Fuck." Leonel stood, his jaw becoming steely. He wasn't safe here. He had to find a way back to Earth as quickly as possible. Since there wasn't a branch of SCS there just yet, it would be more difficult for them to cause problems for him. The issue was… how? Entering another Zone would be difficult. Using teleportation platforms was probably another no go… 'I'll find Aina first then think of what to do…' Leonel sighed. He felt as though a guillotine was hanging over his head. However, at least he was aware of its existence now. Not only this, but he had become aware of many other things… ** The days quickly flew by. Soon, Leonel would have no choice but to join everyone else within the Central Tower. That morning, with just a few hours left until the timer would hit zero, a shadowy figure slowly stalked toward the Central Tower. A prominent hunched back was the first thing anyone caught sight of. As for the rest, it was shrouded in black. By now, everyone knew that this was the Sword Monstress, the very woman who caused the commotion at the Northern Gate.

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