Dimensional Descent

As Montez was trying to piece things together, Leonel could feel his deliberation.

Trying to ask someone to pinpoint exactly when they fell into the Demoness’ schemes was like trying to ask them what caused the start of the universe. They could probably name the inciting incident, but they had no method of describing to you what could cause something to happen before cause and effect even existed as we know it today.

The reality was that the Demoness’ schemes were so deep that Montez was practically trapped in the web from the moment of his conception, let alone his birth up to now.

When Montez started acting more like a Dream Asura, he was just doing exactly what the Demoness wanted. And now his wife was gone, and he had no idea where she was. The unfortunate truth was that Leonel had a guess as to what was happening here; he just didn’t want to say it out loud for fear that it might be true.

While Montez’s wife would be useless to the Demoness... could a child they shared be the same?

But then why would she bother to manipulate Montez’s memories like this instead of just killing him? What else was she planning?

And what could she possibly want with a child?

Luckily, for now, this was still nothing more than speculation. He hoped that the real reason his aunt wasn’t around was because she had had no choice but to leave Montez’s side.

After all, if Montez lost his memories, he would be a danger to her, especially if he was acting much more like a Dream Asura should.

In that case, hopefully, she was living somewhere in seclusion...

When Leonel left this Idol Battlefield, he would be able to use his Dream Force to find her no matter where she was located... so long as the Demoness hadn’t interfered.

All this time, he had been looking for Montez, but the distortions were so strong that he could only barely manage to tell that he was alive.

Now, his Dream Force was strong enough that he felt that even if his aunt was still very weak, he would be able to find her as well.

”We will find her,” Leonel said surely.

”I...” Montez looked down. At a moment like this one, he didn’t even want to be seen. He didn’t know how he had still ended up useless. He could even remember having thoughts of killing his own nephew.

He remembered how many times he had clashed with Velasco about relying more on

those around him. But it was Velasco who had abandoned pretty much all of his bloodlines, all of his talent, that was the far more successful of them.

While he was busy making it seem like Velasco didn’t take their father’s Path of the spear seriously, he was off doing great things. And then there was him who couldn’t even escape the grasp of that damned mother of his.

Oh how he so longed to kill her with his own two hands...

But would he ever have such a chance?

Looking at his nephew, it seemed that he had been surpassed by him as well. What was his role here? Did he even have a place in this world anymore? What was even the point in living?

”Daddy, who is that?” Leah asked softly between her sniffles.

She heard Leonel call him uncle, and she didn’t quite understand. But she could see that her father’s relationship with him wasn’t bad. That only confused her more, though.

If they knew each other, why did they never speak?

”Him? He’s your great uncle, my father’s brother. You two just helped him get his memories back.”

Leah blinked her large golden eyes, half hiding in her father’s embrace and half looking to Montez.

”Really?”

”Really. You were a big help,” Leonel smiled.

”It was because of Dream Force?” Leah asked.

”Yes”

”Dream Force is scary...” she said with a pout.

Leonel laughed. ”That’s why you’ve got to train much harder in Dream Force so that no one can ever do that to you again.”

Leah nodded heavily, but she still seemed somewhat scared of Montez and preferred to remain in her father’s arms.

Montez looked up when he heard the innocent conversation, For some reason, he found the scene heartwarming in a way that went beyond just the interaction between father and daughter.

He had watched this young man grow up, and now he was already old enough to not only be a father but to also have enough wisdom to know how to guide his children as well.

He could remember a Leonel furious with the world after his father’s death, a Leonel that most wouldn’t even really want to be around at all. But even before that, he could remember a Leonel without nearly enough drive and ambition, or a Leonel that allowed his ego to dictate far too many of his actions...

Any one of these iterations of his nephew wasn’t the type of person a good father

could be.

And maybe that was the real reason Leonel needed to wait so long to accept this new phase in his life.

Although he wanted to scold Leonel for having children in such a dangerous environment, a conversation he had had with his wife every time she tried to force him to put a baby in her... he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He wondered... had he made a mistake not having children...?

Or was he just as immature as Leonel had been all those years ago? Unwilling to give up a rivalry with his elder brother... unwilling to abandon his feeling of inferiority... unwilling to give up revenge...

He didn’t know what he was striving for anymore other than those things.

When had he ended up less mature than his own nephew?

Tears brimmed in Montez’s eyes.

”Dad, he’s crying...” Leo whispered.

Leonel smiled warmly. ”Sometimes that’s alright. What really matters is what you do

afterward.”

”After...” Montez said softly.

A burden seemed to be lifted from his heart as a world-shuddering aura erupted.