[Bonus chapter for 1200 you little demons]
Leonel closed his eyes forcefully as though trying to blink his fatigue away.
Deep in his gut, a flaming hot coal landed. An instant later, it burst.
As though hundreds of snakes were racing through his body, Leonel felt like all his veins, arteries and blood vessels had suddenly been lit on fire.
His eyes opened, a deep red hidden within the depths of their pale green.
His head turned slightly in one particular direction. The cold within his gaze bubbling forth.
Miles and Simeon felt a cold sweat mat their backs. For a moment, they found it difficult even to breathe, let alone move.
'… It would take me 8 minutes and 36 seconds to make it there and kill them in this state… It's not enough time…'
Leonel had never felt such a strong desire to kill. It was worse than just wanting to end someone's life. It was deep to the point of wanting to feel the warmth of their blood.
He was pissed.
Of course, he was mad about not being able to kill them. But, he was even more pissed off about his own weakness.
It felt cliche. He was certain that he had read the same exact line in a hundred if not a thousand books, shows and movies before. But, it wasn't until now that he felt it to the depths of his soul, a yearning that was seeking to roar out.
Others thought that Leonel didn't like the result of his Gene Analysis Exam because he didn't like being a quarterback. However, this wasn't the truth at all. What Leonel actually didn't like was the idea of someone dictating what it was he could and couldn't do. The feeling of someone cornering him like that left him enraged.
Even he didn't know what he wanted to do with his life yet, so how dare someone else decide his course for him? Who were they to do such a thing? To treat him like a puppet on a string they could pull every which way they desired?
Those innocent people who died today were just like that. Weak. Having their lives, their fates toyed with on a whim. Was he really much different from them?
Leonel had never been an ambitious person. From a certain perspective, it could be considered to be one of his flaws. Maybe the only thing in his life he had ever truly wanted was Aina's answer to his confessions. That singular, childish want had actually pushed him to such an extreme. He didn't even really remember how it happened, but here he was. He was now an enemy of the Ascension Empire behemoth.
That was how simple Leonel was. Such a small thing yet he was willing to go so far for it.
Aina wasn't the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, that was Joan. She had only ever said his name once. He didn't even feel that he knew much about her.
It was just a feeling. It was a feeling that told him that there was no better woman to be by his side. So, he strove to make that happen. It was nothing more and nothing less.
If others heard his thoughts, they would think that he was crazy. Such a man… If he ever had ambition… If he ever had something he wanted to accomplish… Just how scary would he be?
However, now, Leonel wanted a second thing.
Their heads. Until he had both of their heads leaking with blood before him, he wouldn't rest.
'The next time I come, I'll make you pay for taking Aina from me.'
These were his true thoughts. He didn't mention the innocents who had fallen even once. This was somewhat cruel… But it was human.
Leonel turned toward the tall silver walls of the Fort. He was not even a hundred meters from them now. With the strength flowing through his body and his shoes, it wouldn't even take him 30 seconds to leap over it, defeat the guards on the walls and leap down to the other side.
However, it was at that moment he suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Let me go!"
'… James…?' Leonel frowned, looking back.
By now, many guards had long since surrounded Leonel while he was deep in thought, they were even within ten meters of him. But, Leonel had simply ignored them, not sparing them a glance.
However, he hadn't expected to hear James' voice here.
James' father was a Tier 5 official. Even among those in the inner city, his status was high. While Miles dared to brazenly kill commoners, James shouldn't have been in any danger. So, what was going on?
Was Miles this stupid? He could still keep control of the situation before, but if he started targeting nobles too, he wouldn't be able to keep hold on power for long.
Leonel's gaze landed on James who was about 20 meters away, struggling under the control of a man with his face obscured by a black tactical helmet. Even in the dark, it was easy for Leonel to make out the gun to James' temple.
One of the commanders who hadn't moved due to the overwhelming pressure emitting from Leonel sneered, his knees still trembling somewhat as he drummed up his courage.
"Obediently allow yourself to be captured, or else your friend will suffer a fate worse than death."
Leonel stood somewhat at a loss, giving the units who had been surrounding him more courage.
"Leo! Don't listen to them! Just run!"
"…"
Leonel didn't say anything for a long while. In reality, it was barely five seconds, but those five seconds somehow seemed like an eternity.
However, to those watching, it only seemed natural. Wasn't he just struggling, trying to decide whether to escape with all his might or save his best friend? But, the words Leonel said next left them at a loss.
"James. Are you sure you want me to kill him?"
Leonel's voice was calm and even. This was already shocking enough, but the words he said were even more ridiculous. What did he mean by that?
James suddenly hesitated, his face painted with confusion.
"I've never seen your father before." Leonel started slowly. "But, this only makes sense. My father retired from his Tier 5 position and I don't come from a large family, so it only makes sense that I'm not worthy of rubbing elbows with the Bennett's too much."
The more Leonel spoke, the paler James became.
"People about six feet tall aren't rare, but those who could be as tall as you are quite a small percentage. You have an A-grade defensive ability, compared to others, what you should fear the least are low class guns that can function without Force disruption. Lastly, it would be quite stupid for Miles to turn on the nobles that help him keep everyone in line, don't you think?"
Leonel continued to calmly speak as though not sensing more and more units closing in on him.
"So, I will ask you again, James.
"Are. You. Sure. That. You. Want. Me. To. Kill. Him."
Leonel's words were like a hammer taken to a stake at James' heart.
Seeing that James didn't respond, Leonel shook his head.
"I'm disappointed… I really… took you as my closest friend…"
"Bullshit!" James suddenly roared. "You pretend to care about so many things, you pretend to be kind hearted, but all you really care about are things ending up exactly like you want them! You don't like killing only because you don't want to deal with the guilt! You don't like playing football only because you didn't get to choose it! You only want to do things your way and nothing else matters!"
Leonel frowned. He couldn't make sense of the jumbled mess James was speaking. He could feel that this 'friend' of his had had this on his mind for a long time, but he wasn't eloquent enough to put them into words in any sort of short and concise way. Even more so, Leonel didn't know where this was coming from.
Yet, somehow, even without a true cohesive line connecting his thoughts, James' words seemed to stab at something deep within Leonel's heart.
"You're a fucking sociopathic hypocrite!"
"…"
Leonel looked toward James who was bordering on hyperventilation. There was a slight hint of pain in the depths of his eyes that he was unable to hide.
"… I don't know whether or not the things you said are true." Leonel finally responded. "I really don't care about many things. Goals? I don't have any yet. When my father mentioned the fact that my mother was actually still alive… I didn't feel much. In all my life, I never even asked him about her.
"There are very few things that I am certain of. The first is that I love my dad. The second is that Aina is the woman for me. The third was that you were the person closest to me outside of my own dad… but it seemed that this was me being too naive.
"What I do know, though, is that regardless of what reasons you have… At this moment, you're trying to push me toward my death."
James' face became as white as a sheet. No matter how hard he tried, he simply didn't have a response.
Leonel turned toward the man holding a gun to James' head.
"I hope it was worth it using your son like that, Mr. Bennett."
Leonel turned and left. Of course, there were numerous attempts to stop him, but they were all foolhardy. Miles even grit his teeth and fired the canons once more, not caring for the damage that was done to the walls, but Leonel simply used his shoes to leap out of the range of the explosion.
Without the burden of Aina and her ax, and being so close to the walls thanks to Miles' mad volleys, Leonel survived within his five minute timer.
With that, he vanished.