Though the young woman's heart was filled with longing for her family, and she couldn't contain her emotions at that moment, Seele was also very curious about what method Leo Ash planned to use to leave the World Bubble.
They had indeed found the entrance and exit of this World Bubble, but finding the exit was one thing; it wasn't as if it remained open every day.
To prevent other foreign objects from the Sea of Quanta from entering, the entrances to most World Bubbles remained closed most of the time.
The entrance before them was clearly in such a state.
But soon, Seele understood why Leo Ash had warned her to keep Black Seele from causing trouble at this moment.
As his warm-up exercises concluded, an oppressive aura far greater than before erupted from Leo Ash.
Wearing the Blank Key, Leo Ash focused his mana, Dimensional Energy, and Honkai Energy into his right fist all at once.
Not only that, but he also unleashed the three Great Demon Lord Glyphs, the power of his Stigmata, and even his Field of Binding as the Herrscher of Binding with all his might.
Leo Ash said nothing, but Seele couldn't stop herself from frantically retreating.
Even knowing he meant her no harm, the terrifyingly oppressive feeling still instilled an uncontrollable fear in the hearts of both Seele and Black Seele.
[This, this man...]
Watching Leo Ash earnestly gathering his power, Black Seele was truly glad she hadn't completely fallen out with him.
The terrifying pressure radiating from Leo Ash now made Black Seele, lurking within the Stigmata, feel that he could absolutely annihilate any enemy with one dreadful strike.
And this wasn't even the full extent of Leo Ash's power.
Even if Black Seele didn't know about the other trump cards Leo Ash was hiding, if she factored in the power he had used when he entered her inner world...
It was better not to think too much about it.
Otherwise, maybe I should just let that whole thing with him threatening me slide.
"Hah, preparations are complete."
After wrapping the Field of Binding around his fist, Leo Ash unleashed an incredibly powerful punch at the entrance before them.
To be honest, before finding the entrance, he had considered many ways to leave the World Bubble.
But upon seeing this entrance, Leo Ash threw all those thoughts to the back of his mind.
Looking at this irritating rift, for some reason, Leo Ash felt a surge of impatience swell within him.
Once this emotion took over, his heart filled with restlessness and violence, and Leo Ash decisively made a choice.
His strike might cause many unnecessary problems for this World Bubble.
But right now, for every second he hesitated here, the danger his comrades and family faced in the outside world would increase by a fraction.
Compared to using a gentler method to leave, he chose a simpler, more brutal one.
"Binding..."
"—Destructive Punch!"
Smashing the entrance of the World Bubble open would save a lot of time.
As the Field of Binding surrounding Leo Ash's fist struck the spatial rift that served as the World Bubble's exit, the energy intensity around the rift was naturally weakened considerably.
And after the energy around the rift was weakened, the various energies imbued in Leo Ash's fist were channeled into the rift using the special technique of the Destructive Punch and simultaneously detonated.
Seele, who thought she had retreated to a safe area, unconsciously swallowed as she watched Leo Ash's punch create a small-scale spatial storm.
Um, my other self, maybe we should...
[I won't cause any more trouble.]
[For, for your sake, I definitely won't cause any more trouble.]
Hearing her other self admit defeat in such a trembling tone, Seele felt a mix of amusement and exasperation.
See? I told you not to think about all that nonsense.
[No, the problem isn't me right now, it's this man.]
[He's very petty. Once we leave this place...]
See, there you go again.
Watching Leo Ash suppress the spatial storm with a wave of his hand using a special barrier, Seele sighed helplessly.
Brother Leo hasn't even done anything, so why are you so intent on provoking and antagonizing him from every possible angle?
[I told you, the outside world is dangerous.]
[Seele, I'm not trying to reopen old wounds, but if your own adoptive mother could use you as a test subject for human experiments, why would you think you can so easily trust a stranger?]
[If you want to trust him completely, that's your business, but I don't think a little vigilance is a bad thing.]
Even if you say that, but...
[But?]
Like I said before, with Brother Leo's strength, even if he wanted to do something to us, we wouldn't be able to resist, right?
[...That's no reason to be so submissive to him!]
Besides, thinking back on it now, you were right.
I could feel Mother Cocolia's love for me, but what she did was undoubtedly wrong.
Since what Mother Cocolia did was wrong, then... if we join Schicksal, maybe we can find a way to stop her from making more mistakes.
[Don't you go thinking about defecting already!]
"Ah, this thing..."
As he stepped outside the World Bubble, Leo Ash saw a monster that, theoretically, could indeed appear here.
"Tlaloc. So Kevin didn't collect this thing."
Looking at the giant beast before him, Leo Ash didn't immediately attack.
However, at the same time, the seemingly quiet Tlaloc, upon seeing Leo Ash...
"▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇!!!"
As if seeing a fearsome enemy, it roared and launched an attack on Leo Ash.
In terms of energy intensity, the pink beam Tlaloc spat at Leo Ash should be on par with the one Chiyou had fired earlier.
But the Leo Ash of today was no longer his past self. Facing such a beam, he simply raised his right hand and conjured a mana shield, easily blocking the highly destructive blast.
If Leo Ash had used a shield formed from his Field of Binding, he would have undoubtedly nullified the attack even more easily.
But after spending so much time in the World Bubble, Leo Ash was now eager to return to the real world and didn't want to waste a single second on unnecessary opponents.
While blocking the attack by combining Royal Guard with his mana shield, Leo Ash converted the energy into pure destructive power, condensing it at his fingertip.
Tlaloc, having failed to harm its opponent, felt an instinctual fear and reached out with its hands, attempting to crush Leo Ash.
But this time, Leo Ash, who had already begun charging his power, simply unleashed his Field of Binding.
Before Tlaloc's hands could touch him, they were directly erased by the Field of Binding.
Looking at the monster as it let out a pained scream, Leo Ash, who had gathered the absorbed power and other energies at his fingertip, unhesitatingly fired the devastating shot at Tlaloc.
As the Special Beam Cannon effortlessly pierced through the giant beast's body, the supposedly terrifying creature was easily killed by Leo Ash just three seconds after their encounter.
"Alright, it's safe. You can come out now."
Leo Ash said to Seele as he watched her cautiously emerge from the World Bubble's exit.
"Stay with me, and be careful."
"Now we just need to find the exit to the Sea of Quanta, and we should be able to get out of this godforsaken place for good."
But even so...
Ugh, this is harder than finding a needle in a haystack.
Right now, I can only hope that Tlaloc's location is more or less the same as in the original story.
In the original story, Tlaloc was able to attack the main characters in Abyssal City from an entrance near there.
If Tlaloc's coordinates haven't changed much, that means if the Eye of the Deep has opened recently, I can use that exit to jump into Abyssal City.
The plan is set, but this damn world keeps throwing challenges at me. Will this plan... go as smoothly as I imagine?
"Eeeek!!!!"
Just then, as Tlaloc's body was destroyed by Leo Ash's powerful assault, the Honkai Energy within it erupted into turbulent currents that scattered in all directions.
For Leo Ash, who was always on high alert, this level of energy turbulence was nothing to worry about.
But Seele was different from Leo Ash.
She had sufficient talent and a powerful Stigmata, but she lacked battlefield experience.
Having just left the World Bubble, Seele was caught off guard by the sudden energy storm. She lost her footing and was nearly swept away.
However, Leo Ash, who was lost in thought, heard Seele's cry and immediately wove his mana into a chain, tightly binding her body and pulling her into his arms.
"...Brother Leo."
Seeing the fleeting look of helplessness on the young man's face, Seele apologized awkwardly.
"I'm sorry, I'm so useless. I held you back again."
"Forget it. A little girl your age shouldn't be on a battlefield in the first place."
After turning the mana chain into nothingness, Leo Ash took Seele's hand, holding her close as he guided her arm to hook around his neck.
"Don't be shy, hold on tight. Right now, safety comes first."
In Leo Ash's arms, Seele gazed at him, completely entranced.
[Um, Seele...]
[Never mind. You're a lost cause, kid.]
As Seele's other personality, how could Black Seele not sense what she was feeling right now?
Back at the Cocolia Orphanage, her fellow orphans and her adoptive mother had indeed given Seele a lot of warmth and love.
But the care from family was just that—care.
At the end of the day, Seele was just a young girl whose heart was beginning to flutter.
When a young man just a few years her senior appeared before her in such a reliable manner...
—It would be a miracle if the little girl didn't fall for him!
And what was this situation now?
Thoughts like 'Brother Leo's embrace is so warm,' 'He's so reliable,' and 'This chest feels so reassuring' were constantly bubbling up...
If you keep this up, you won't even need him to trick you; you'll be throwing yourself into his bed.
My other self, I can hear you.
[Oh, so?]
So—don't you dare say bad things about Brother Leo!
[I, I haven't said anything yet.]
You were definitely about to!
[...Fine, I'll shut up.]
[This isn't just a case of you siding with an outsider. With your attitude, you're not thinking of getting into his bed one day, changing your last name the next, and getting a marriage certificate on the third, are you?]
[...Why aren't you denying it! Say something!]
Um... well... Brother Leo is so amazing, a lot of people must like him, right?
[So that's what you're worried about.]
[Forget it, I'm not going to say any more. You're already planning to give yourself away, so at this point...]
[Whatever I say probably won't make a difference.]
At almost the same time, in the Sea of Quanta.
Durandal, who had once again entered the Sea of Quanta today, sensed a powerful energy fluctuation somewhere and immediately rushed toward that location.
The monsters in the Sea of Quanta weren't particularly strong, but Durandal was on a search and rescue mission.
She didn't want any strange Honkai Beasts jumping out and getting in her way after she finally found Leo Ash.
Leo Ash had been missing for so long, and his condition was already poor after his battle with Kevin.
In Durandal's view, even if Leo Ash was in the Sea of Quanta, his condition likely hadn't improved much.
Even for Leo Ash's safety, Durandal had to be extremely cautious and deal with the surrounding monsters.
However, just as the young woman, with these thoughts in mind, rushed to the area, she suddenly saw a figure she had been dreaming of.
Leo Ash!
He's alive!
And he looks like he's in good condition!
But in the next moment, the joy in the young woman's heart was tainted by a shadow of gloom because of what she saw.
The Leo Ash before Durandal's eyes was holding a beautiful young woman in his arms.
And from the way the girl was looking at Leo Ash...
—Durandal saw an emotion that made it impossible for her to be happy.