The swing of the ax missed Leonel's nose by a hair, swiping down, splitting the desk, and then burying itself into the floor.

Leonel took a step forward, stamping down on the polearm of the ax with a foot and driving it down hard.

The city lord's grip almost failed. But though he managed to hold on, his body was sent tilting forward.

Leonel took advantage, stepping to the side off the polearm and in the same motion, sending a fist right at the city lord's head.

BANG!

Leonel's hand almost shattered on impact, the jaw of the city lord becoming covered in the very same grey stone, but his expression didn't change in the slightest. It was as though he didn't know pain.

The city lord's eyes rolled as he nearly lost consciousness. He stumbled, his grip over the ax loosening as he almost collapsed.

BANG!

A second fist landed from Leonel, then a third.

The city lord couldn't read or react to what was happening at all; his mind wasn't even clear. It was like he was being attacked by three enemies at once instead of just one. A single miscalculation had left him in a quagmire that he couldn't pull himself out of. Blood ran down Leonel's knuckles as his skin was sheared off with every collision.

In the swirling darkness of his mind, city lord Anesse could only barely see a pair of deep, violet eyes. Despite the fact his knuckles were being stripped down to the bone, the coldness never faded from them.

Those two orbs were the only thing the city lord could see as the life was practically beaten out of him.

He couldn't help but wonder what mistake he had made to end up in this situation... And that was when he caught sight of a second pair of cold orbs. They were golden, and they hovered there with the very same steadiness.

This was no normal pregnant woman...

Those were the last thoughts he had before the last of his mind gave way. His brain practically oozed out of his orifices, his blood falling like the rain.

Leonel exhaled a calm breath.

He wasn't originally planning to kill the city lord if he was obedient. But what was with

these people and targeting his wife? Did they have no shame? Not letting even a pregnant woman go?

He shook his head almost as though it was regretful that the city lord chose death.

However, he only did so for a moment before he picked the two halves of the desk up and put them together. He drew a Force Art at their split joint, and it naturally fused together. Quite quickly, it looked as though nothing at all had happened in the office. Leonel picked up the city lord's corpse and put it on the table.

Other than the blood oozing out of his orifices, the city lord actually looked perfectly

fine.

'It should be possible...'

Leonel had been testing something with every punch he levied at the city lord.

This Sub-Dimensional Zone was entirely focused on Weapon Forces, so doing anything else was quite difficult. Even his Ability Index was suppressed, let alone his Lineage Factor.

The obvious solution to this problem was to kill the city lord and then use King's Might to resurrect him to do his bidding. But that was easier said than done, especially with the Regulator targeting his Dream Force in particular.

However, as Leonel had said many times already, everything in this Zone was constructed from Dream Force.

Everything.

That meant that technically speaking, using King's Might here should be easier than using it anywhere else would be. After all, he had direct and unfettered access to the souls of people.

But the theory was one matter; the actual execution was another. In reality, he couldn't even access his King's Might at all, let alone use it.

However...

He had gone through a great deal of trouble to survive the trials of the Emperor's Might Golden Tablet and unlock the techniques within.

And if one remembered... the techniques of Emperor's Might were all drawn as Force Arts.

So what would happen if he drew the Force Art for [Arise] right onto the body of a dead enemy?

Leonel's wrist flickered continuously, drawing out the complex Force Art piece by piece.

He had needed to test out the city lord's body to understand its ins and outs.

Usually, when he cast [Arise], he would be able to directly control it with his Dream Force, shifting and changing some subtleties to make it fit.

For example, when he faced off against Shan'Rae, he had to put in far more effort because her soul had protections.

Here, it was even more complicated because he was trying to draw a one-size-fits-all Force Art onto the body of a dead man who didn't even have a soul in the normal

meaning.

However...

SHUUU!

The stone skin of the man suddenly lit up and gained a violet tinge. With a twinkle, the man's eyes suddenly flashed open.

"My King!"

City lord Anesse rushed to his feet off of the table and kneeled before Leonel.

Leonel exhaled a breath, a slight sheen of sweat covering his brows. The complexity of

the Emperor's Might techniques certainly weren't a joke.

He wasn't sure he would succeed if the city lord was truly in the Fourth Dimension. The suppression here was too much. But this would be enough.

Soon, those of the city lord's mansion saw an odd sight. Their stoic city lord was actually waiting on a young man that had entered quite hostilely moments ago.

It wasn't long before news of a fourth blacksmith spread. But what was more shocking than this was that the city lord had taken him in as a true confidant despite the fact he had killed his son.

This, though, in the eyes of the foolish people of the city, meant that the city lord was truly a magnanimous person who hadn't known about the actions of his own son. And this made others, especially the spies from other cities, extremely wary of Leonel.