Leon of Deity Rising had gone down the antagonist path for more than just one reason.
But at the root of them all was the fate of Lucia Raviaz.
If not for that, the other reasons wouldn't have affected him as deeply, nor would he have been pushed to that final breaking point, the one that led him to side with the Invaders.
With those thoughts in his mind, Leon's eyes silently moved to the other woman who had entered the room alongside his mother, her personal attendant, Kelli.
She was a woman dressed in a Victorian-era maid uniform, her black hair cut just above her shoulders, and similarly coloured eyes. A faint beauty mark rested just beneath her left eye, adding a subtle charm to her otherwise composed expression.
Leon studied her for a moment, then turned his gaze back to his mother as he pulled away from the hug and stepped back.
"Now then, mother…"
At those words, Lucia smiled wryly.
'Back to calling me 'mother', huh?'
"Since I've finally recovered after soooo many years," Leon continued, "there's something I'm really looking forward to testing out."
He walked toward the door after he spoke, fist clenched tightly at his side.
'And this would serve as confirmation that the Deity Rising game is truly my reality…'
"Testing? Testing what?" Lucia's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
To this question, Leon turned around, a bright smile on his face as he responded.
"What else, if not my strength?"
The moment the words left his mouth, he spun around and bolted out of the room, zipping down the hallway before Lucia could call after him.
Watching him vanish around the corner, Lucia sighed, pressing her fingers to her forehead and shaking her head as she muttered, "This child…"
Kelli, who had been silently standing behind her, glanced down the hallway and commented, "The young master's speed is impressive."
"Huh?" Lucia raised a brow, and the woman elaborated.
"Compared to the average movement speed for those on his level, he's well above average."
Lucia nodded in agreement, having noticed the same thing herself.
"Well, that's only natural, given his elemental affinity," she muttered, returning her gaze to the empty hallway.
◇ ◇ ◇
Leon sped down the corridor, jumped onto the staircase railing, and slid along the curved bannister while the servants moving about stared in shock.
After reaching the ground floor, he rushed out of the main building with a gust of wind, heading through the back door and into the garden beyond.
As he ran, he glanced over his shoulder at the mansion behind him and muttered,
"For a vacation home in another country that we rarely use, this place is insanely huge. Even Alex's parents' place wasn't half this big."
He faced forward again, leapt over a row of neatly trimmed flowers, and sprinted across the lawn, heading straight toward the nearest building to the mansion, the barracks where his family knights lived and trained.
"I just ran across our ridiculously large garden and wasn't out of breath… it really feels good to finally have a healed body."
Wiping the light sweat from his brow, he stepped into the building, casually waving at the security cameras tracking his movements as he made his way toward the training area in the centre.
Though Leon had been inexplicably sick, he hadn't always been confined to a bed. From a young age, he had undergone combat training.
A light training regimen had been specially designed to accommodate the limitations of his frail body. With it, he'd learned various fighting styles, and while he couldn't claim to be a master, he was at least proficient with the sword, the spear…
'…and throwing hands.'
That last thought brought a small smile to his face, making it pretty obvious which discipline he favoured most.
'My Trait would eventually make me immune to my own powers, so close combat suits me perfectly.
Still, there are times when going unarmed can be a problem, so I can't afford to neglect my weapon skills.'
With that in mind, he quietly stepped into the courtyard where the knights were training. But just as he was about to take another step forward, he flinched, and faster than he could turn around, a pair of arms wrapped around his waist and lifted him clean off the ground.
"Haha! I caught a wild young master!"
A loud voice rang out, drawing the attention of every knight present as a tall, bearded man hoisted Leon into the air and sat him on his shoulder.
"Sir Manuel, for the thousandth time, stop carrying me around like I'm a four-year-old. I'm over four times that age already," Leon spoke with a heavy sigh.
"You're still a child in my eyes, young master," Manuel replied with a chuckle.
With Leon perched on his shoulder, the man strode into the courtyard, his presence causing the knight recruits undergoing evaluation to stiffen nervously.
The veteran knights, however, bowed and greeted, not Manuel, but Leon, while shooting warning looks at the recruits to follow suit.
"Here to train with us again? You've been slacking off since we came to Asteau."
At Manuel's question, Leon picked up on the fact that his recent bedridden state had been kept secret, so he nodded casually.
"Yeah. I'm here to test something."
"Test something?" Manuel echoed curiously.
"Yep. And since you're here, mind lending a hand?"
Leon's request was met with an immediate nod from Manuel, who turned to the knights and ordered them to make some space.
"Newbies, take five."
As he set Leon down, three senior knights approached with weapons in hand, their expressions focused as the one in the forefront asked,
"Young master, will it be the sword… or the spear today?"
Leon blinked, then chuckled as he understood what was going on. With a wide grin, he raised his voice and responded.
"NEITHER!"
"What?!"
"Young master, how could you?!"
"Ha! Knew it! Pay up, losers!"
The dramatic reactions, two despairing, one triumphant, made it clear a bet had been placed on what weapon Leon would choose to train with.
Manuel, watching the scene unfold, just facepalmed with a resigned sigh. He'd warned them more than once to stop gambling over Leon's training choices, but clearly, no one ever listened.
The knight who had bet on Leon choosing unarmed combat rushed forward and scooped him up in a hug, laughing loudly.
"Haha! Young master's my lucky charm! I can finally buy that limited-edition wine!"
Leon laughed along with him, and the scene drew wry smiles from the other knights watching nearby.
The recruits, on the other hand, stood blinking in disbelief, unable to process what they were seeing.
It was obvious that Leon was very close with the knights, the complete opposite of what they'd expected from someone of his status.
Some of the senior knights chuckled as they caught the expressions on the recruits' faces, remembering that they too had worn those looks once.
Especially those who had served in other noble households before joining House Raviaz. They had been stunned to find that Leon not only trained alongside the knights but also joked around like one of them.
Even more surprising was that the family head had no qualms about this and even supported it.
◇ ◇ ◇
A quick reprimand from Manuel scattered the three betting knights, leaving only him and Leon standing at the centre of the training yard.
Leon glanced up at Manuel, quietly observing him.
He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a muscular build and black hair, accompanied by a full beard. A thin scar ran along the right side of his face, a mark he proudly regarded as a trophy from battle, considering who had left it there.
Full name: Manuel Simon. Position: Captain of the Raviaz Knights.
A seasoned warrior who'd fought alongside Leon's parents during the last planetary invasion Citera suffered two decades ago.
The man wore his usual grin, his hands slipped into his trouser pockets as he asked, "So, what do you want to test out?"
"Just wanted to see if there've been any changes to a certain power of mine."
This was Leon's way of confirming whether Deity Rising's story truly reflected the future awaiting both him and Citera.
He took a combat stance, his left arm extended forward, right arm pulled back. He did the same with his legs, and at that moment, the entire courtyard fell silent.
Leon took a deep breath, then looked up at Manuel, who'd taken his hands out of his pockets as he activated his Core Skill.
"Bronto."
A surge of magic erupted from his body, and tendrils of white lightning crackled around him, arcing across the ground.
But when Leon's violet eyes glowed, his magic power output, now increased alongside its quality due to his recovery, suddenly spiked.
All eyes in the courtyard widened as a purple hue seeped into the white lightning, like ink bleeding across a blank canvas.
In seconds, Leon's lightning had transformed from clear white to a deep, vivid purple.
At the sight, the eyes of both Manuel and all the senior knights in the courtyard widened in unison, the same thought crossing their minds.
'Young Master Leon has inherited the Lord's power!'
Crackling arcs of lightning coiled around Leon's arms and legs like gauntlets and boots, and upon seeing it, Manuel's grin grew wider.
"Hahaha! The apple NEVER falls far from the tree!!"
His relaxed stance changed, mirroring Leon's, and with a booming voice, he shouted.
"Come at me!"