Chapter 2688 Another Path

Chapter 2688 Another Path

Leonel grabbed at what looked like empty air and pulled out the Segmented Cube and a familiar ring, chuckling to himself. He found all of this to be very amusing.

Watching her husband giggle like a little boy on Christmas morning, Aina couldn't help but smile to herself.

They both knew that somewhere, out there, there were some people who were very, very mad.

And unfortunately for them, while they were lost in their fury, they would miss the forest for the trees, falling further into Leonel's web. By the time they understood what was happening, it would be far too late.

Leonel pressed a hand onto Somnus' body as the Life Tablet disappeared into his glabella once more. Somnus was then sent into the Segmented Cube.

Leonel felt some resistance come from the man. Obviously, bringing someone into a spatial device required their acquiescence. Unfortunately, his resistance was futile purely because... he didn't have enough strength left to resist in the first place.

Leonel and Aina slipped into the Segmented Cube to find a glaring Anastasia.

Leonel coughed. "Oh, Anastasia. You're looking very cute today, did you know that? Look at those adorable cheeks, I could just pinch them for day-"

"Shut up! Do that again, and I'll never talk to you again!" Anastasia snapped.

"Ah... yes, ma'am!" Leonel stood at attention.

Anastasia was a huge part of the plan.

The Tablets didn't have inner spaces, not in the conventional sense. Even when Leonel entered the Wise Star Order Libraries, only his mind did so, his body was still very much on the outside. So, obviously, the Segmented Cube and the ring couldn't have just vanished into it...

He could only make it look like it had, and that relied on Anastasia.

Touching a World Spirit through normal means should have been impossible, so when Anastasia suddenly felt Leonel's gentle touch, she lost it. It was the first time she had ever been touched by anyone this way.

The floating cloud of blue that made up her lower body darkened and began to rain with its own tears.

"I'm sorry," Leonel said softly. "I swear I won't do it again..."

Leonel thought back to when both Anastasia and Aina had been angry with him. Back then, he had sent Aina on a "date" with that disciple of the Three Finger Cult for the sake of luring them away and dealing a death blow to the Human Alliance.

Anastasia had been even more angry than even Aina back then, and he could even tell that she was holding more of a grudge as well. A huge part of the reason Aina had stayed mad for so long was because of Anastasia in the first place...

Now, he felt like he understood.

It felt like he was abandoning Aina back then, and Anastasia really didn't like it. And now, this most recent plan made her feel like he was abandoning her, and it hit even harder.

In the past, Leonel's pride wouldn't have allowed him to even try these plans, he'd rather try something else entirely. But he was trying to change himself, trying to become someone who could not just survive in this world alone, but with everyone else he cared for surviving as well...

So he bent his own desires and will, sullying them for the sake of picking the plans with the highest chance of survival... And the result was that this was the second time already he had hurt those he cared for.

He looked toward Aina... or was this the third? The fourth?

The Gathering of Kingdoms, he made Aina fight alone... The Gathering of Minds... he didn't allow her to fight at all.

He held Anastasia's little body tighter, stroking her hair gently as his eyes flashed with a cold light.

There was another path. If he changed himself once, he could do it again.

He wouldn't put those he cared about through this again.