'A man…?' Leonel's pupils constricted.
He finally understood. The Invalids had been drawn here by this man's silver shield ability. Back then, Leonel had been confused, wondering why it was that they had been when the dictionary had told him earlier that Invalids wouldn't antagonize creatures from another race.
'Is it that man from the Brazinger family again?'
Leonel frowned, spreading his Internal Sight to the max. If Simeon was here, it would be a good opportunity to deal with him.
According to the dictionary, Simeon had some sort of gene manipulation ability that fell into the SS-grade. There was a chance that this man was another one of his experiments…
Of course, it was also possible that this gorilla form was just this man's ability. After all, Leonel used his own ability all the time but never attracted Invalids unless he used Force. If he thought about it, it also made sense if this man's transformation was his ability while the silver light was some sort of Force technique.
'Am I overthinking it…? Is he not involved?'
Leonel raised his head and swept a glance over the Slayer Legion units. Just the simple act made them feel as though their chests would burst from the thumping of their hearts.
At that moment, the Invalids led by B-grade threats had entered the range of the battlefield. Leonel had finished off the gorilla so quickly that there wasn't even an opportunity for them to influence the battle. However, Leonel didn't even cast them a glance. Was it even his problem anymore?
If they couldn't handle three B-grade Invalids on their own, could they even count themselves as a rebel army? Plus, Leonel wasn't a pushover even if he had a kind heart. After seeing Captain Sela's ridiculous actions, none of them stepped forward to say something, let alone help him.
'I guess I was expecting too much from them. What could an organization that's done nothing but lose to the Empire for decades possibly have to offer. It's better if I just hone my Force Crafting and clear Zones as well. It won't take me more than a year to have enough trump cards to deal with the Junior Governor Duke and that man from the Brazinger Clan. Then I can go and find Aina…'
Having already made up his mind, Leonel ignored the cries of the rebel units and walked to the chariot that had bound him. Soon, he looked through the mechanisms and found what he needed to release the chains from his hands.
Leonel sighed, rubbing his bruised wrists. 'I was too reckless this time. If I had been prepared for anything, I wouldn't have gotten caught like that.'
In the end, he was too inexperienced and had grown too confident. It was fine to be confident, but it had to come from a place of knowledge and strength. Leonel had the strength, but he was still lacking in knowledge.
In this world, there were too many unique abilities and treasures he had to account for, getting caught off guard would happen frequently. The only way to perfectly combat this would be to be cautious. If he had been, there was no way a mere Captain Sela could put him in such a situation.
Leonel looked around again to find the rebel units fighting for their lives against the B-grade Invalids. Sometimes, pleading gazes would meet his own, making him feel guilty. In the end, he was still a bit soft and couldn't completely harden his heart. Ultimately, these people had been misled by Captain Sela. He didn't want to leave them hanging.
'Fine, fine. Whatever.'
Leonel took out his atlatl and three darts from his spatial bracelet. Killing B-grade threats was as easy as breathing for him. Three Invalids, three darts, three throws and three deaths. It was that simple.
As for the C-grade and lower Invalids, this time, he really did leave it to them.
At that moment, the weakened Captain Sela struggled to stand. Her left arm was bent at an unhealthy angle and a side of her face seemed to have skidded along the ground and was thus ruined by severe cuts, burns and blood, but she stood nonetheless.
She had no idea what had just happened and couldn't even see the gorilla any longer. All she saw was Leonel standing on her chariot.
In truth, Leonel was planning on leaving now. He just could have never imagined that instead of treating her injuries properly, this Captain Sela would actually come to find trouble with him in her half-dead state.
"Get away from my chariot!" She snarled.
Leonel cast a glance at her and shrugged, leaping off the chariot and turning to leave. However, completely out of Captain Sela' expectations, his destination wasn't the harbor where it was far safer, but rather back into the ruined city. It was obvious that he was intending to leave.
"You… Where do you think you're going?"
Leonel didn't have any intention of answering, so he just kept walking. Why would he even bother to stay here? This Slayer Legion was nothing but a joke. Their Captains were fools, their fighting strength was weak, and as if this wasn't enough, they apparently didn't have issues targeting their own men.
An organization rotting from the inside-out like this didn't deserve his effort. It seemed that Earth really had nothing left for him.
It was a thought he never thought he would have, but now it was as firm as a lighthouse in a dark, foggy night.
'They might still have some use.' Leonel thought. 'In the small likelihood that that man was one of his experiments and he finds out it was taken out in this harbor… he might send more to investigate. In that case, I can find out a bit more about this Brazinger family.'
Leonel's gaze grew frosty. If it wasn't for them, he would have never been separated from Aina.
"… Do you think that the Slayer Legion is a joke?! You think it's possible to join one day and leave the next?! Why aren't you all doing anything?!"
Hearing this question, many looked at Captain Sela with weird gazes. He just took down an A-grade threat with his hands bound. Then he took down three B-grade Invalids with three flicks of his wrist. Do something about it? Wasn't that the real joke?
Leonel's footsteps paused.
Of course, it had absolutely nothing to do with Captain Sela. She could scream ten times harder and he still wouldn't listen to her ramblings. The reason he stopped was because a man had suddenly appeared before him. And, though he didn't know it, this was the very same man who had been observing the battle from the large ship in the distance.
Though Leonel didn't know this, he had seen how this man got here with his Internal Sight. He rode the waves of the water with his bare feet then launched himself here… Yet, the process was so quiet that no one but Leonel seemed to notice his actions at all.
"It seems I will have to reward you with a promotion, Captain Sela. When you sent a report that a recruit came in with a stolen invitation card, I hadn't thought much of it. But it seems that your intuition was right. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have never thought that this kid was a spy.
"I should have known… A critical margin of error wouldn't appear without reason."