Chapter 996 Four Young Men Just when the young golden hair and eyed young man thought that his life was forfeit, a hand with translucent scales suddenly appeared before his face. BANG! The hand was unable to stop the full momentum of the beam of gold, resulting in the golden haired young man's face being bashed in with the back of it. Blood flew as the golden haired young man's nose caved in, his body sent reeling backward to the point he nearly fell off of the flying disk the group of them stood upon. He was immediately concussed and felt as though the world was spinning without end all before he fell to his butt, the grip he had on his bow loosening to the point he almost lost hold of it entirely. At that moment, the young man who had saved his life looked down at his palm. He could feel an ache in his wrist that told him that he had nearly broken it. It was clear that he had underestimated this beam of light almost too much. This young man had a head of blue hair and eyes, and judging by his stunned look, he was clearly very much confident in his defensive abilities. Though his translucent scales hadn't been broken, he still felt a hint of pain. "Who?!" This time, it was a green hair and eyed young man who spoke, being the third of the group of four. It seemed that his temper was the most fiery of the group, but it somewhat made sense. Being so far away from land made him itchy and trigger happy. It was definitely safe to say that he was the most uncomfortable of the current group. By now, it was very much clear that these young men were members of Earth's hidden families and also that their goal may very well be identical to Leonel's own. The gold hair and eyes of the Laevis family. The green hair and eyes of the Crudus family. The blue hair and eyes of the Adurna. And, finally… The fourth and final member of the group was the only one who didn't seem to react with shock or fury. He stood silently, a monocle with numerous floating lenses revolving around his left eye as though the moons to a planet. He was none other than Simeon Brazinger, the first main branch member of the hidden families Leonel had ever met. And, even until now, he was still the only one. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶 Simeon's gaze narrowed. 'It's you…' He still remembered four years ago now when he was forced to retreat from the Project Hunt Island. It was a humiliation he still wore on his chest to this very day. He hadn't seen Leonel in a very long time but the pure dislike he had for him was just as palpable as it had always been. Back then, Simeon had chosen to come out ahead of time to try and lay a foundation and some groundwork for his future plans. However, at every turn, it seemed like Leonel was there to stop him. He had even tried to use the Royal Blue Fort to deal with him, but even that had ended in failure. The result was Simeon being forced to return to the family's lands where he hadn't even been allowed to come out for the Terrain war. Only after Earth entered the Fifth Dimension was he finally given some degree of freedom back in return. Yet, in the irony of all ironies, the moment he tried to accomplish something, here was Leonel once again to stand in his way. How could he not want to tear Leonel limb from limb? "Simeon?" The blue haired young man called out, seemingly realizing that something was up. "Adrin, Elilar, Zannos. Don't you dare move. He's mine." Simeon's words were baffling. 'He'? Who was 'he'? And plus, if there was anyone who should get first crack, shouldn't it be Zannos? Just look at him. The blue haired youth, Adrin, looked toward Zannos to say as much. But, when he saw that the latter had grown a mustache of blood from his bleeding nose and how he still seemed to be in a daze, he shook his head. "… Never mind…" Elilar, who had snapped earlier, looked toward Simeon oddly. They all knew Simeon well, he practically never showed any emotion at all. It wasn't coldness, it was just indifference to all things. This had to be the first time they had ever seen him lose his cool. Simeon's face was quite expressionless, but a deep red Force had begun to pour out from his body. 'Sometimes I forget that he's a Brazinger…' Simeon's palm flipped over to reveal a rattling chain that must have been at least ten meters long. It had a black body and was coursing with crimson veins and golden barbs. It looked as though there wasn't a single place on its bod that you could touch without ripping your flesh apart and yet Simeon began to slowly wrap it around his palm, down his wrist and up his arm as though he couldn't feel a thing. At that moment, Leonel, donning his silver Divine Armor, suddenly appeared in the air no more than 20 meters from them. As for how Simeon had recognized him with his helmet on, maybe only he would be aware of the answer to that. Seeing Leonel, the gazes of Elilar and Adrin narrowed while Zannos was still far too out of it to even register just what was going on. Simeon's red hair waved about gently, the harsh rain in the surroundings not even touching the hem of his clothing beneath the bubble of his flying disk. With a wave of his free hand, two balls of light hovered before him before bursting. What was left behind left Leonel's gaze narrowing beneath his visor. Two enormous metallic birds appeared. Or, rather, that was what they looked like on the surface. But, their true nature most definitely caught Leonel's attention. [One more chapter coming today]