Leonel didn't know how long he basked in the moment. But he only snapped out of it when the two little guys started crying.
Unlike usual new parents, though, Leonel could tell what was wrong immediately. And through him, so could Aina.
Once Aina started to breastfeed them, their unhappiness went away and they started suckling away madly, their large adorable eyes blinking away as they begged for more. Leonel laughed seeing just how much they were eating. The sort of high-density food Aina could produce would probably put a grown man out of commission for three days just from a single mouthful, but these two demons practically had little bulging bellies by the time they were finished.
Then, they fell asleep with happy smiles on their faces.
Leonel and Aina looked toward one another, a gentleness in their eyes. They had had the thought more times than they cared to count by now, but they had truly never been happier.
Standing to his feet, Leonel helped Aina up. It was probably about time that they get cleaned. Although they didn't mind all the blood, they couldn't allow it to continue for too long.
There was no easy method of getting clean here, and Elaine seemed to realize that as well. But Leonel just waved her away.
With a step, he vanished with his wife and children.
When they appeared again, they were in the middle of nowhere, a calm lake lying before them and a line of trees surrounding them from all sides.
Aina's body was still a bit frail, especially after Leo and Leah sucked up so much, so Leonel gently held onto her waist, helping her in.
The two took turns washing one another and then helped their babies get clean.
"I made so many clothes..." Aina said, feeling somewhat sad.
Unfortunately, most of them were still in the Segmented Cube and Leonel hadn't regained access to it just yet.
"That's okay."
Leonel drew a finger through the air, in one part drying his two sleeping children, and another part clothing them in soft fabrics that nurtured their souls and deepened their rest.
Aina smiled and the two walked out of the lake together. With a slight rush of wind, they were clothed as well.
Aina now wore a harness that held Leo and Leah to her chest, the giddiness in her eyes practically overflowing. Her gown flowed through the air as she moved, her strength returning to her rapidly as she inhaled the Force around them.
Leonel took her hand, grabbing at the air and forming a spear that rippled with gold, red, and violet. With his wife and children by his side, he felt that he had an endless supply of jet fuel injected into him.
Every time he looked over and saw Aina's happy smile, he would know that he made the right decision.
Who cared about the end of the world coming?
No...
With this sort of strength at his fingertips, why couldn't he stop the end of that world?
The world crumbled around them and Leonel slowly shook his head. He knew that this would happen.
Unfortunately, he didn't get the chance to see his uncle, but he bet that it wouldn't be long before he did.
"Piss off," Leonel growled, rage flaring in his eyes again.
He could feel that the Regulator was trying to separate him and his wife again.
His spear slashed out just a single time, and it was like the world was truly split in two. A rippling wave of gold, violet, and red soared forward, shredding everything it came across into nothingness.
The invisible hand of the Regulator was minced to pieces and its attempts were thwarted.
"Hey, you can't say words like that anymore," Aina said sternly.
Leonel coughed. "Yes, ma'am"
Aina nodded in satisfaction before sweetly grabbing onto Leonel's arm.
The two took a step forward and when their vision cleared, they found themselves in a familiar hall. Well, at least it was familiar to Leonel who had been here before. This region was none other than the very same place the spear masters had gathered.
But this time, there were only a small number of them, even compared to before. The number that had entered the Idol Battlefield had already been cut down significantly, to the point where there were only five people present... and that included Leonel, Aina, Leo, and Leah.
The only other person was none other than Leonel's uncle. He was the one and sole survivor of the Spearman stream aside from Leonel himself, and quite frankly, Leonel found this shocking.
Why had so many died?
He had done a lot of killing, but that was mostly of the existences that had spawned along with the Zone. In terms of actual candidates that Leonel had killed, there were only about 12.
But now that Leonel thought about it... that was quite a number of those that had been here.
The only reason he even faced that many to begin with was because the Regulator had been personally targeting him. Now, however, it obviously lacked such an ability. At the very least... Leonel had a lot more capital to protect himself because the Regulator had rules that it, itself, had to abide by.
Leonel stared at his uncle for a long while. The man looked toward him as well, somewhat confused about why there was a woman with children here. If Aina had been here before, he wouldn't be confused, but she hadn't been.
Also, the Zone had only lasted less than three months, compared to the years it was supposed to take instead.
For experts like them, it usually took longer to conceive, not less time. It didn't make sense for two babies to suddenly pop out.
And why did he feel so uncomfortable looking at those children?
Confusion colored his face and he didn't know what to make of it.
In a shocking showing, though, Leonel didn't say anything. He found a corner to sit with his wife and they lost themselves in their own world.