Chapter 435: Pressure

Laeron, Zindi, Matteus, and Ameron still hadn't left. How could they, they were waiting for a proper opportunity. 

The truth was that although Laeron's plan was excellent, executing it would be far more difficult. It wasn't as though they could just plop a bunch of novels and movies in front of King Arthur and expect him to read and watch them all. 

Whether he even would was one matter, but by the time he did it would probably already be too late. Who cared if Arthur threw a fit after Camelot had already been assimilated by The Empire? By then, they could just send someone to kill him with ease and it wouldn't matter in the slightest. 

"… Our best bet is most definitely an illusion specialist. It will be difficult finding one strong enough to cause him to fall, and even more expensive, but it will be worth it. It's the most seamless option we have."

The four of them seemed to all agree with this. 

King Arthur's strength was something they looked down upon initially, until they were in the same room as the man. They couldn't deny the pressure he placed on them, it was undeniable. 

"Not a bad plan."

The four were stunned. If these word had been spoken by one of them, it would be fine. The issue was that it most definitely hadn't been. And, to make things worse, they recognized the voice it was spoken by as well. 

Leonel slowly walked out of the forest, causing the four to be shaken. How had they not heard his approach until just now? That was impossible. 

Ameron's gaze narrowed, his golden eyes piercing toward Leonel. 

Unfortunately, before they could focus too much on Leonel, another, much louder set a footsteps caught their attention. They spun around, only to find Aina walking forward with a great sword dragging in her hands across the forest floor. Compared to the flustered girl she had been just a while prior, her current cold expression seemed worlds apart. 

"Yip! Yip!"

A little mink dashed along the tree branches, appearing from a third direction. 

"Leonel, what do you think you're doing?!" 

Matteus could no longer hold back his temper. Leonel had already infuriated him enough once, but this blatant provocation was too much for any human to handle. 

"Do you understand what you're doing, kid?" Zindi cut in, her green eyes locking onto Leonel. 

"Enlighten me." 

Instead of taking these words as an opportunity, the four hidden family members only grew more enraged toward Leonel's response. They didn't want to have to explain themselves to a child, and it seemed even more pathetic to do so. Those who had strength didn't need to speak, they could just do. They didn't have to convince anyone of anything. 

"No takers?" Leonel almost pouted in disappointment. 

Truthfully, he was looking forward to learning more about these hidden families. Other than seeing their hair color, he knew nothing else about them. 

Well, he did know a bit about the Brazinger family's Lineage Factor thanks to Aina. But, this was about it. 

Leonel shook his head. 

"I'll give you four two options.

"The first option is to surrender. Allow us to escort you to a holding cell within Camelot until negotiations are complete. After this, we will release you and you can go about your business.

"The second is to battle. Should you do this, however, you will definitely die."

Leonel didn't add any flowery words of encouragement or any coercion in the slightest. He simply laid out the facts as they were. 

These four had no idea, but they were facing two opponents who had already stepped into the Fourth Dimension. Not only had Aina done so, but the little mink had done so as well. On top of that, there was Leonel whose ability was already at the pinnacle of the Fifth Dimension and was supported by a mind within the Fourth. 

With only four of them… they simply stood no chance. 

The truth was that Leonel suspected that Ameron had already stepped into the Fourth Dimension. He could tell simply by observing him that he was different from the other three. But, Leonel didn't believe that this would make a large difference. 

Still, Leonel made a mental note that he needed to understand more about the Fourth Dimension. Because he didn't have the latter portions of [Dimensional Cleanse], he was flying in the dark about how the power systems of the Fourth Dimension functioned. As such, he found it difficult to scan the 'stats' of someone within this Dimension. 

However, Leonel's gut feeling told him that the combination of Aina and the little mink was more than enough to deal with this golden haired man. As for the other three… they were his. 

"So, which choice will you make."

Leonel brandished his bow, his demeanor calm and collected.

The four began to sweat. This wasn't just a problem of facing the three before them. The main issue was that they were still in enemy territory. 

Defeating these brats was one thing, but what if Camelot mobilized an army? What would they do then?

They didn't feel that these three were stupid enough to come without requesting any sort of back up assistance… right? They couldn't have?

Leonel's lip curled into a smile. The most important thing about applying pressure on a person wasn't how much you applied, but when you applied it. 

If you used all your tactics immediately on a strong minded individual, they would all fall flat. But, if you simply poked at someone when they were in their most fragile state… 

They would collapse like a house of cards. 

Leonel pointed toward the green haired lady. 

"You have a Lineage Factor that has great synergy with plants. In your mind, you're probably undefeatable in a forest facing opponents like us, right? You're probably even more confident than a usual member of your family because your ability is an A-grade Harden ability that reinforces the chemical structure of objects to make them tougher than the strongest diamonds and the best alloys… is that right?

"Quite a great synergy of your abilities. Would be quite a hassle to deal with a flood of vines all harder than the sharpest swords."

Zindi shuddered, the subtle movements she had made to control the vegetation in the surroundings coming to a grinding halt. 

Leonel's smirk deepened, pointing toward Matteus. 

"And you…"