Leonel didn’t even look back at Monet, his speed only increasing. He pierced through everything as he rushed ahead, Blackstar’s Destruction Idol only amplifying his power to an extreme.

Because of the rules of the palace, no one was even allowed to step foot into it. That meant that all the halls were empty, and there were no obstructions other than formations, but Leonel ripped through them as though they weren’t there at all.

BANG!

Suddenly, Leonel ran into a wall he couldn’t push through at all. Even with his body as a spear and his blade as Blackstar’s Destruction Idol, it didn’t matter. He practically shattered his skull ramming into it so hard.

“DAMMIT!”

Leonel pounded on the barrier. “OLD MAN, LET ME IN!”

Leonel pounded the barrier again and again. He didn’t believe that Gervaise didn’t see what was going on yet.

What Leonel didn’t know was that his grandfather was truly out of it. He wasn’t paying attention to anything other than his wife and had shut himself out from the rest of the world.

Leonel was correct about his grandfather in a lot of ways. But he had miscalculated in one aspect… how much Gervaise actually cared for his grandmother.

In Leonel’s opinion, Gervaise had only chosen his grandmother because of her bloodline and talent. He even felt quite bad for his grandmother because of it, but he had never said anything because, one, he wasn’t that close to his grandmother in the first place; two, she likely already knew—she wasn’t a fool, after all; and, three… if she really didn’t know, then ignorance was bliss.

Leonel wasn’t the same naive child he was back on Earth. In reality, he had likely never been naive enough to believe that honesty was always the best policy.

If his grandmother believed that his grandfather loved her, then that was for the best, especially since he treated her well enough that it wasn’t a problem.

Informing her that he never really loved her at all would just be making her life needlessly more dark. The woman had already lost her daughter, been ostracized from her own family for decades, and taken on a weight no woman should have to bear alone.

Letting her have her love life was the least he could do.

The only time he had ever said anything remotely akin to “exposing” his grandfather was when he told his grandmother to come to him if she was ever bullied. And obviously, Leonel thought that that was exactly what was going on right now.

His grandmother was clearly at her breaking point, and if not for the World Spirit to sense the odd changes, he wouldn’t have even been aware.

And unfortunately, the situation would truly be better if his grandfather didn’t care. At least then he would spare some thought to the outside world to make sure his Empire wasn’t burning down in his absence.

But instead, he was only focused on the woman in his arms to the point he didn’t even sense anyone pounding on his own Edict World.

“FUCK!”

Leonel felt himself unraveling. He had been able to deal with his mother’s death much better than maybe even he expected, but he refused to allow anyone else around him to die.

If his grandmother died now, so soon after he had made such vows, he didn’t know what he would do with himself.

The world felt like it was collapsing around him, and his heart, which was far more fragile now than he seemed to have noticed, looked like it was on the verge of fragmenting into pieces.

However… Leonel wasn’t the same man he had been in the past.

‘Too much… I’ve lost too much…’

Flashes of violet trembled in the depths of Leonel’s eyes, the echoes of his heartbeat causing ripples in the air.

“LEONEL!”

Monet’s approaching voice came from his back, and it was clear that she was about to catch up and obstruct him again.

Leonel took a breath, and his eyes went ice cold. The hints of trembling vanished, and his body became firm.

He wouldn’t allow it.

The World Spirit on his shoulder trembled slightly, and Leonel’s mind pierced forward.

“BREAK!”

BANG!

The spear Leonel manifested in his hands shattered, but he didn’t stop.

“BREAK!”

BANG!

Blood began to ooze down Leonel’s nose. Every time he yelled “break,” he was pulling on the other half of his Ability Index. But even if he commanded it, his grandfather’s Edict was too powerful.

Trying to command something that wasn’t possible caused an endless wave of backlash onto himself, forcing his soul into a weaker and weaker position and shredding it apart. The only reason he hadn’t fallen already was because he was using the World Spirit to bolster his command over the world. And yet, it still wasn’t enough.

If he continued, he would certainly die… again.

“BREAK!!”

BOOM!

Leonel’s roar shredded his throat apart, and by this point, Monet had already appeared right behind him, lashing out with her ribbon of fire to swallow him whole and complete his imprisonment.

And yet, Leonel didn’t seem to notice.

“I said… BREAK!!!”

BOOM! BOOM!

Despair threatened to root in Leonel’s gaze once again as he saw that this strike barely caused the barrier to tremble.

Blood began to leak from his eyes and ears as he stumbled backward, his knees weakening to the point he almost fell to the ground.

However, that despair was stamped down by an even greater fury. The blood streaming down his cheeks only increased.

“WEREN’T YOU TWO SO ARROGANT!? WHERE IS YOUR ARROGANCE NOW?!”

Leonel seemed to have completely lost his mind, speaking to none other than his Weapon Forces. They were so arrogant that they didn’t even want to share his body before, but now they couldn’t even take down a single, measly barrier… what was their use?!

He should be able to pierce through anything, cut through anything. How dare they have such an overinflated sense of self when they couldn’t even do this much?!

Monet’s ribbon descended and caught Leonel.