Dimensional Descent

Aina was stunned by the question. Then there was such a sudden rapid fire of emotion on her face that even Leonel was having a hard time keeping up. There was shock, then excitement, then worry, then more excitement, and then apprehension, then there was guilt.

“Leonel, I—”

Leonel shook his head, stopping her. He knew what she wanted to say.

They had agreed to have children a long while ago, but there was always some tacit understanding between them to always delay it. Aina had even said that she wanted to wait until her friends were at that point in their relationship as well.

But both of them were smart. They knew that it would be a foolish decision to do such a thing, so they had always found good reasons.

But when Leonel thought about it… really thought about it, he couldn’t help but wonder. Would it ever not be foolish? Or was he always overthinking things?

It was funny. Now that his mind was slower, not overrun by logic all the time, he felt far freer.

No matter how he looked at it, there would maybe never be a right time to have children. Even in some potential future where he finally killed the Demoness and had his revenge, the Northern Star was still a looming problem that wasn’t going anywhere.

After the actions of the Primordial Terror, Existence’s time had been shortened to just a few thousand years at best. The situation had been mitigated somewhat after its death, and some balance had been returned, but Existence still wouldn’t have much more than ten thousand or so years left.

To the wider world, this kind of timeline might as well have been a single blink.

So what would he say then? That he couldn’t have children until the impossible task of reversing the flow of the Northern Star was accomplished?

Wouldn’t he then have spent his entire life fighting? Having spent every waking moment fighting against some monster or shadow in the distance? How could that be considered a life at all?

Leonel and Aina had been born on Earth. Even with the advancements in technology, they had only expected to ever live a few hundred years at most.

Now, they had several thousand to work with. Wasn’t that something worth cherishing? Why should they waste it?

Sure, they loved to battle… but that shouldn’t be all they did.

He wanted to build a family with his wife… and he was willing to stand tall and have a blade prepared for anyone who wanted to stop it.

“… We’ve waited long enough,” Leonel said with a smile.

“But…” Aina’s eyes brimmed with tears again. She really wanted a family, she really did. But she also didn’t want to add to Leonel’s burden. “… There’s too much danger, and I don’t know what being pregnant might do to me, I might be weaker, I might not be able to help you as much…”

Leonel stroked Aina’s cheek with a gentle touch.

“There’ll always be danger. But I heard dad strength is crazy.”

Aina laughed through her tears, and eventually she nodded. This was what she had wanted for a long while.

Of course, she wanted at least ten more after this one, but why not start with one and see how things would go? Even if they only had one child, she would cherish him or her with all the heart she had to give.

She kissed her husband, her heart fluttering.

The two quickly lost track of time again.

…

Aina giggled. “… We only need to do it once. I can handle the rest.”

“No, no, I need to make certain that you’re properly bred.”

“What am I? A puppy?!”

“Puppies can have babies. You’re my little obedient bitch, though…”

Aina’s moans swallowed up the rest of her words. As expected of his little masochist, she lost her mind the moment he said those words.

…

Leonel didn’t bother to count how much time passed. Eventually, he laid Aina down to rest and a smile spread across his face. He felt as light as air.

He rubbed his wife’s belly although there was nothing to see just yet. He knew that with her control, not only could she conceive whenever she wanted, she could even pick out the perfect pairing of their Genes to give their child the best life possible.

This was the reason he had wanted more than one. The larger the selection she had, the better it would be…

Of course, that was just his official, corporate answer. As for the real answer… well, he would keep that to himself. Who asked his wife to be so hot?

…

The smile from Leonel’s expression vanished into a deathly sort of determination. The cold coming from his gaze was so frigid that the air seemed to shudder.

He entered the Segmented Cube and reacted just in time for a little girl to rush into his arms.

His coldness dimmed a bit as he smiled, patting Anastasia’s head.

“What are you crying about? Aren’t I here?”

Anastasia used his shirt to wipe away her tears, sniffling as she tried to regain her bearings.

Leonel’s sternness returned. “Anastasia, I need a strong time warp, one stronger than the pods. You can get rid of them if that’s what it takes. I need a space to temper my body.”

“How long?” Anastasia asked.

“Just give me a method to contact you when I’m finished.”

“Okay.”

Leonel stripped himself down as Aina prepared.

The method he was going to use now took time, more time than he was willing to give it. Normally, time dilation couldn’t be used for training because it would distort Forces. Unless you had exceptionally high Time Force affinity, it was impossible.

But Leonel wasn’t training his comprehension. All he wanted was a space to put himself under the greatest pain he had likely ever endured in his life.

At that moment, he had a flashback… it was the day he first awakened his Metal Synergy Lineage Factor.

He had almost given up beneath the pain and his soul nearly collapsed. But he had managed to pull through.

Since then, he had experienced a great deal of things… and now he had much more to fight for than the kid who cared about no one other than himself.

This time, he would truly be going all out.

It was time to see the power of the Weapon Forces that had called down the Idol Battlefield.