Regarding Leo's action of actively sending his companion away, at least half the people present immediately understood his intentions.
He was staying behind with them, a group of strangers, while making his close companion leave—this clearly meant he was preparing to do something reckless and didn't want his loved one to see what happened next.
As for why so many of the Flame-Chasers present understood this, the reason was simple—they had seen it all too often.
The leaders of the Previous Era had not hidden the existence of the Honkai. So, in the Previous Era, the Flame-Chasers who survived into the late stages of humanity's fight had seen far, far too many comrades sacrifice their lives for humanity's future.
Among those people, individuals like Leo were simply too numerous to count.
"Miss Aponia."
Looking at Aponia, who clearly looked much better now, Leo said softly.
"You should be able to use your Discipline now, correct?"
"I can, but..."
Aponia stared at the man before her, a strange light flickering in her eyes.
"Mr. Leo Ash, since you are acquainted with Miss Rin and can bring up 'Discipline' on your own, you must be well aware of the dangers of Discipline."
"I do not know what you intend to do, but..."
As the future she had seen flashed through her mind, Aponia spoke gently to Leo.
"If you are planning to use Discipline to achieve something, then please, I implore you to reconsider."
"No need. From the moment I entered the Elysian Realm until now, I have thought it through clearly enough."
After stating this bluntly, Leo scanned the variously expressive Flame-Chasers around him, his gaze finally locking onto Kevin and Elysia.
"You two, as the strongest within the Flame-Chasers, I hope that if I show any abnormalities later, you will do everything in your power to suppress my strength."
"Ahaha, about that..."
Hearing Leo's request, Elysia played with the ends of her hair, her eyes darting around, completely unable to give a definite answer.
"Although being valued so highly makes me very happy, but..."
"This matter is of great importance. What I cannot do, I cannot do."
"Indeed."
Recalling the sight of himself being hung on a cross, Kevin nodded with extreme solemnity, agreeing with Elysia's view.
"Sir, although I do not know what you plan to do, the power you have displayed is already beyond what we can suppress just by 'trying harder.'"
"If you intend to do something too radical, please reconsider."
"Ah, about that, I don't think you need to worry too much."
After releasing the chains created by the Authority of Binding, Leo once again manifested the golden cross—which held absolutely no fond memories for anyone present—before the crowd.
Only this time, he did not hang anyone else on the cross.
This time, the one hung upon the cross...
—was Leo Ash himself.
"Ah, using this power at full strength to suppress myself for the first time... it really feels terrible."
Under the utterly astonished gazes of the crowd, Leo looked at the Flame-Chasers with a grin.
"This should be fine, right?"
Faced with Leo's current actions, Kalpas suddenly spat out two words.
"Maniac."
Hearing Kalpas, for once in a relatively calm tone, make an assessment that everyone agreed with, Mobius took an inconspicuous step back.
In fact, when she had just come into contact with him and Rin, even knowing they were there to clear out the Herrscher of Corruption inside her, Mobius's curiosity still made her entertain a few crooked ideas about these two Herrschers.
But now, with Leo's actions, the last shred of ill intent in Mobius's mind vanished completely.
Maniacs weren't scary; their Fire Moth had no shortage of maniacs.
But a maniac to this degree... it was better not to provoke him.
In any case, on the way to regroup with her comrades, Mobius had heard all the intel.
In the outside world, from Reason to Binding, all eleven types of Herrschers, excluding the twelfth, the Herrscher of Corruption, were on humanity's side.
And Leo was sincerely inviting them, these Elysian Realm memories, to leave and help humanity. In that case, there would be plenty of opportunities to interact with other Herrschers in the outside world.
Hearing Kalpas's words, Leo's expression gradually returned to calm as he spoke to Kalpas, sounding slightly weak.
"Ah, thank you for the compliment."
He then looked at Aponia and said.
"Miss Aponia, I am ready."
"Under my control, the power of Binding will suppress my strength without interfering with your use of Discipline."
"Now, please use your power on me. Place a Discipline on me: [No matter what, you must fight against the Honkai with all your might, without harming the innocent]."
"...I understand."
Staring at the resolve in the young man's eyes, Aponia said no more. She gently gathered her power and unleashed it upon Leo Ash.
She didn't know what Leo had been through, but now, facing a warrior who had made up his mind to fight the Honkai, all Aponia could do was help him with all her strength.
"Mr. Leo Ash, please, no matter what, you must fight against the Honkai with all your might, without harming the innocent."
As the power spread through Leo's body, he could feel a distinct change in himself, from his body to his consciousness.
The Heart Skandha that Leo cultivated from the Five Skandhas of Taixu was originally a Divine Sound improved from Discipline. And now, as Discipline began to spread within his body, he could feel that the power he was suppressing with the power of Binding was actually beginning to be amplified.
This level of amplification wasn't that impressive to Leo, but considering that he was currently self-inhibiting his power, the numerical value of this amplification was terrifying.
However, this was not what Leo desired.
The increase in power was just a byproduct of the Discipline. What Leo truly sought was to accomplish one thing through this Discipline.
After actively applying a weakened version of Phantasmagoria to himself, Leo successfully made himself pass out in front of everyone.
Watching this completely defenseless action, Kevin, who originally still held some doubts about Leo, now completely let go of his suspicions.
In fact, looking at everything that had happened, although Leo hadn't been polite when he was beating them up, it was purely a necessary evil to deal with the Herrscher of Corruption.
And now, facing the very Flame-Chasers he had just beaten, Leo unhesitatingly chose to trust them, entrusting his own safety to Kevin and the others, who, in a sense, had just been his enemies.
From this, it was clear he trusted their character and even saw them as 'trustworthy companions.'
Well then, this person had solved their troubles and still held such an attitude towards them...
—No matter what, Kevin could no longer harbor any suspicion towards such a person.
"Eh, is he really asleep?"
Seeing the exhausted look on Leo's face, Elysia cautiously walked over to him, poked his cheek with her finger, and then revealed a very helpless expression.
"My, it looks like he hasn't rested properly at all."
"Indeed."
As a MANTIS specializing in the mind, Su could currently sense things that others, aside from Aponia, could not.
"And even now, after falling unconscious, Mr. Leo Ash has not begun to 'rest'."
"Aponia should have sensed it too. Mr. Leo Ash's mind is currently in an unstable state."
"I think I understand why he was guarding against himself so much..."
After reaching this conclusion, Su took an extremely vigilant step back, even getting into a combat stance.
"Everyone, prepare for the worst."
"Mr. Leo Ash has gone to meet his Herrscher Personality. If things go even slightly wrong..."
"—This time, we might just witness how terrifying Mr. Leo Ash is when he fights at full strength."
Hearing Su's words, the other Flame-Chasers didn't dare to be careless.
Along the way, aside from being a little polite to Griseo (who was a child, in a sense), Sakura (Rin's sister), and Hua (his Master's memory), Leo and Rin had beaten up everyone else.
Almost everyone had witnessed Leo's power, and now they knew that the Leo from before hadn't been serious.
Combined with Leo's behavior when he asked Aponia to apply the Discipline...
For the non-combat-type Flame-Chasers, they might not immediately grasp what this implied.
But for super-experts like Kevin and Elysia, Leo's previous performance had already been somewhat frightening.
The Previous Era's Herrscher of Binding could only release a field with a 100-kilometer radius, and that was enough to cause heavy casualties to Fire Moth's combat units.
But Leo, this new era's Herrscher of Binding, had already shown in the previous battles that he could play with the Binding field—which was supposed to be a large-area-of-effect ability—like it was putty.
Not only could it emerge from underground, but it could also change into various shapes, and even be used to weaken himself while allowing other powers to flow normally into the weakened person...
If they hadn't seen Leo use the power of Binding in such versatile ways with their own eyes, they would never have believed it was possible.
One Herrscher of Binding was already terrifying. But a Herrscher of Binding with skill and intelligence...
If all thirteen of us attack together, do we even stand a chance?
...
Meanwhile. Leo Ash's Mindscape.
Inside his own mindscape, Leo Ash slowly woke up.
Unlike when he entered the dream space, this mindscape didn't greet him with a runaway truck that kept evolving.
In this space, Leo saw something he hadn't seen in a long time, and in a way, hadn't wanted to see.
"...I really didn't expect my mindscape to be this kind of place."
Looking at the front door he hadn't seen in so long, Leo fumbled in his jacket pocket and, just as he expected, pulled out a key.
Using the key to open the door, Leo saw everything he hadn't seen in ages.
This was the home he had lived in for over a decade after reincarnating in this world.
After his parents died in the Honkai, he had rarely returned to this place.
On one hand, Leo, who was striving to join Schicksal at the time, needed to spend a lot of time training.
On the other hand, he really didn't want to see these things that carried such happy memories.
Now, just looking at the sofa in the living room, the new color TV his parents bought before their trip, the small refrigerator the three of them had discussed replacing, and the range hood in the kitchen that had been scrubbed countless times, Leo felt a pain so intense it was as if his heart was about to be torn apart by grief.
Just standing here, he felt like he was about to be crushed by the happy memories of the past.
Forcing down the anguish in his heart, Leo walked to his own room and opened the door.
Then, as expected, he saw a white-haired man on the floor.
After returning to this world, Leo had learned from Kevin that when he fought Kevin, his hair had turned a snow-white color, similar to the Kaslana family.
After that, Leo thought about it and realized this change only occurred after he used the three Dominus Glyphs.
Sensing the movement from the outside, the white-haired man finally, slowly opened his eyes.
The moment the man opened his eyes, Leo, staring into those scarlet pupils, felt himself instantly suppressed by the man's aura.
The other's expression was incredibly calm, but Leo could feel that his pupils were emanating an incomparably terrifying killing intent and other negative emotions.
"Should I say... 'Nice to meet you'...?"
"But, it doesn't matter. There's no need for any formalities between us."
"If you have anything to say or do, hurry up. After all, you, acting in the outside world, know better than I do..."
"—That day is getting closer and closer."
..