Chapter 98: Fawkes

[Bonus chapter for 1500... next week there will be bonus chapter per 350 powerstones instead >;] ]

The moment Xinghai said his injuries were caused by Leonel, it made the latter think of a few things. There was no one he injured like that. Could it be that Xinghai was referring to the canons Miles was using?

But, when Leonel saw the sniper rifle on his back, he realized something else. Could this have been the sniper he shot at? Shouldn't he be dead? Leonel had been very confident in that shot…

That was when Leonel understood. If that sniper managed to survive, there was an 84% chance that he had an ability that allowed him to do so.

Judging by Leonel's observation, there was a 7% chance this ability was defensive and a 91% chance that this ability was evasive. It was less likely to be defensive, or else Xinghai wouldn't be so injured. Leonel then decided that this ability was either related to high speed, some sort of invulnerability, or potentially teleportation.

In the beginning, Leonel had given teleportation the lowest odds because he intuitively knew it must be a rare high class ability. However, when Xinghai stepped toward him, Leonel realized his speed stat was far too low, so teleportation moved up a rank. That left invulnerability and teleportation.

So, Leonel set up a test with the grenade. He didn't believe that Xinghai's ability was impregnable, or else he wouldn't have been injured. He also didn't believe that Xinghai's ability had a long duration, or, again, he wouldn't have been injured.

This led Leonel to ultimately conclude that Xinghai's ability was short term invulnerability or short distance teleportation. Regardless of which it was… He was finished the moment he took Leonel's bait.

'This is really too inconvenient.' Leonel shook his head. 'If I didn't have to speak out loud to the dictionary, I wouldn't have to go through so much trouble. It could have just directly told me what I needed to know…'

This event was one no one was destined to know about. It happened in a place without spectators and Leonel didn't even seem to care much about it. However… If others were to know what happened here… How Leonel, an 18 year old boy, played a Five Star Arms Professional to death while barely able to stand on his own two legs…

The world would come to know that a monster had awakened.

'Slayer Legion?' Leonel's eyes narrowed as he looked at the card Xinghai left behind.

The Slayer Legion… It was a name not many knew about. This wasn't because they tried to hide themselves. It was quite the opposite, actually. There was nothing this group wanted more than to be widely recognized and renowned. However, they were always pressed beneath the thumb of the Ascension Empire.

The few who knew its name were either high ranking government officials or other unlucky individuals that happened to be present during one of its many attempted and failed campaigns.

By now, those who were clever enough had likely already guessed exactly what this 'Slayer Legion' was. It was precisely the rebel army that dared to face up against the mighty Ascension Empire.

In order to dehumanize and emasculate the rebels, the Ascension Empire suppressed news of them to the extreme. It was to the point that many weren't even aware that they had a name at all.

Leonel didn't expect Xinghai to be affiliated with them. He was quite bold to wear it around on his neck like that. But, then again, he didn't exactly seem like a normal individual.

"The rebel army, huh…?" Leonel flipped Xinghai's card in his hand. "… I'm not interested in joining, but I can probably use these guys to kill them faster…"

**

In the lofty Ascension Province, there was a palace that stood as tall as a mountain. Beautiful golds and silvers were all around, displaying an impossible to grasp majesty.

Within the royal court, nobles from all across the land were gathered. If one were to not be aware of the Metamorphosis, it would be impossible to guess from this place that such a horrible event was going on. Let alone how immaculate the Ascension Palace looked from the outside, even much of the Ascension Province seemed completely unaffected.

Still, despite how many powerful men had gathered here, there was one man who had so much presence that they were all completely drowned.

He sat on the throne with a light smile on his face. He looked to be quite old based on his wrinkles, maybe almost 60 years old. But, he had a youthful exuberance that rivaled a 20 year old man in his prime.

His hair was a bright white-gold that almost seemed to radiate its own light. His eyes were like two green emeralds, twinkling as though they were gems. His beard was full and almost looked like a lion's mane, but it was so meticulously groomed that not even a single strand was out of place.

He was handsome to the point of being inhuman and charismatic to the point of being untouchable. He had the kind of air that made it impossible for one to continue holding onto their anger before him.

He was Emperor Gervaise Fawkes. The man who wielded the most power on Earth.

At this moment, a man kneeled before him with an ugly expression, explaining a great many things that he listened to seriously.

"Outrageous!"

One of the nobles roared as they listened to this story.

"Two children actually dare to be so brazen just because they were awakened as Variants?! What is your Royal Blue Province doing, Governor Duke Leum?! You can't contain two commoners?!"

The kneeling man wore an ugly expression, but he didn't refute, waiting for His Majesty's response. He knew that his enemies in the court wouldn't allow him room to maneuver now that his son had made such a big mistake. The only option was to come clean. Hiding it would only make things worse.

Suddenly, the Emperor began to laugh. The laughter was so jovial and happy that the Royal Court was stunned silent.

"Leonel Morales is it? HAHA!" Emperor Fawkes continued to laugh. "You're asking me what to do about a teenage boy? Do whatever you want, go all out. Kill him if you can, though I doubt you'll be able to."

The words left them speechless. What was going on…?

However, Emperor Fawkes continued to laugh.

"Killed a few nobles? Killed several thousand commoners? Disobeyed direct orders? So what?!

"If you can, you can go ahead and kill him. In fact, if anyone can kill him, I will reward you greatly. The second Province we clear after the Ascension Province will be yours if you succeed."

"… Pardon…?" Governor Duke Leum thought he must have heard incorrectly. That must be it… right?

Unfortunately, Emperor Fawkes continued to laugh.

"Leonel, is it? My daughter truly gave me a great grandson. Kill some more, rampage some more, who cares? A Fawkes man should be exactly like this."

Governor Duke Leum directly fainted. He collapsed to the ground, willing what he had just heard away in his dream land.