Dimensional Descent

What Leonel didn’t know was that this Infinity Beast was more than just tired, it was old and worn. For a creature to be so beautiful, and yet so close to the end of its lifespan, was probably something a human like Leonel who was destined to grow old and wrinkled could never truly understand.

It was tired of life, tired of existence, maybe it was fully aware of what was happening and simply couldn’t be bothered to care anymore. That was all it had done in its life... care... and it cared too much.

It wasn’t like the Void Beast that destroyed all things, because it was, in fact, all things. It was all Forces, all beings, and as such it understood all Forces... all beings. Its sympathy was boundless, but this was like a curse, one that ate away at its very being and suffocated it for all that it was worth.

Marred by this beauty, no one had ever seen its true self, that hidden interior awashed with darkness and suppressed by its own care and concern.

In its final moments, it exhaled a breath of relief. Someone else would have to hold onto its burdens from now on... It was no longer its cross to bear.

Leonel began to fall from the skies, the Infinity Beast’s body having vanished into a clump of silver he held onto. He couldn’t fly at all in this dense den of Force Arts, because even though the entire Vital Star had vanished, the runes that had once colored its surface were only released from their shackles, unleashing onto the world a wide range of changes that made an Eighth Dimensional World’s pressure feel like child’s play.

However, Leonel couldn’t focus on the fact that he was falling right now, because it wasn’t the time to. He still needed Anastasia’s help to cast [Breathe].

Even now, Leonel didn’t know what kind of beast he had just killed, nor the kind of weight that had been on its shoulders.

When he had looked at the Void Beast, although he had reacted indifferently, he had still felt that mighty pressure coming from even its corpse. He couldn’t imagine what that beast would have looked like if it had been alive.

Knowing that, how could he know that this creature that he felt nothing from could possibly be its counterpart? When looking at the Infinity Beast, he felt that it was somewhat forgettable aside from its gorgeous exterior...

As though he had never seen its true self.

Due to this, the only thing he was focused on at the moment was making sure that the impermanence of [Assimilate] didn’t ruin Little Tolly’s chances. Of course, he was also worried about Little Tolly turning on him, and the best way to deal with that was to use the excess energy that Little Tolly would have now and turn it into the little guy’s future potential instead.

With that move, he would both weaken Little Tolly significantly and make any potential rampage manageable, and he would also secure his Metal Spirit’s future. It was a win-win situation, so he acted immediately.

This time, Little Tolly didn’t resist. Leonel could sense a faint bit of the little one’s intention to devour the power itself, but it immediately realized that it simply had no ability to and left matters in Leonel’s hands.

Leonel almost laughed when he sensed this, one because this was the most complex thought that he had ever heard come from Little Tolly so he was certain that the maturing process had gone well, and two because this little guy was exceptionally greedy.

While he didn’t know what kind of beast that beautiful creature had been, he was certain that it was at least beyond the level of the Ancestors of this world. So, the fact that it could be so strong, and yet not dealt with by the Regulator, made Leonel feel that just maybe... it might be closer to the entity of the Void Race than not.

Whatever the truth was, Tolliver was truly too greedy thinking that he could devour something like that on his own after only just entering the Sixth Dimension.

Anastasia helped Leonel with the Force conversion once again. Luckily, this burden was much lower because much of the energy came from the residual Force of the Infinity Beast itself. So, even though the Vital Star was gone, there was plenty left to deal with this situation.

BOOM! Leonel crashed to the ground and coughed out a mouthful of blood. It had been a long while since he had been worried about gravity of all things, but looking at Little Tolly, he grinned, feeling that it was worth it.

In truth, he had been a bit worried. That beast didn’t look like it had metal attributes, and Leonel had learned long ago that more abilities wasn’t as good as abilities that coincided with your current path. For example, with the Silver Tablet, he had been able to steal the Ability Indexes of others for a long while, but he never had. That was because he knew that he could very easily cripple himself doing so.

But looking at Little Tolly... It seemed that he had worried too much. He didn’t know why, but he felt that Little Tolly had reached a level he couldn’t imagine, a level that reminded him of... those two God Races he had just seen. Despite being of the Sixth Dimension, the pressure the little one gave him was suffocating.

Little Tolly was still that same adorable little silver blob, but within that silver there were densely packed runes of white gold that looked like the ancient markings of a long forgotten temple.

Leonel looked up toward the floating and fading Force Art Runes in the twinkling skies and immediately sat upright. He had to study these as much as he could before they faded away completely. Comprehending them himself was far better than just assimilating them, that way he wouldn’t have to worry about anything else.

In his focus, he forgot about Tolliver’s changes for a moment...

Of course, Leonel had no idea that he had just helped his Metal Spirit Assimilate one of the strongest beasts in all of existence...

What better pairing could there be for a Crafter’s Partner than the Beast of Creation itself?