Dream Beyond Life's Edge

Incident in Lipest

Leo flew into the air while his left hands held Jane in place. Jane produced a barrage of ice chunks to incinerate Leo, but none hit as Leo spun around her mid-air. While slowing down his flight speed, Leo materialized an invisible block with his right hand and pressed it down on Jane, crushing her if not for the 3 pillars of ice she built around her. 

Pulling back his hate, Leo decided he couldn't kill Jane in this fight. He needed to capture and interrogate her first. Then he'll bring her to the capital to judge her for her crime.

With his foot, Leo kicked a jolt of lightning towards Jane's legs. Layers of ice encased Jane, protecting her from the bolt. Seeing she'd have a harder time moving, Leo released his left hand grasp on Jane's movement and replaced it with destroying the lawn beneath her. The 3 ice pillars tilted and broke down as it lost balance, letting the invisible block fall down as it transformed into a box. With a crash, the box landed around Jane, flattening the dirt and grass and trees surrounding her. Leo fully closed the gap of the box under the ground, capturing Jane inside an invisible cube. Jane dismantled her ice encasing and made a few futile attempts to break out but nothing worked.

Leo slowly touched the ground and glared at her. "Why?! Just why would you do that?! He's your own son!"—he banged the invisible cube—"Answer me! You know Talia is going to be charged for this too right?!" Her murder of her own children sent an horrible image of him killing Julius into his mind which he quickly shook off.

Jane ignored him and only stared at the ground. Her eyes were unfocused, as if she'd resigned to being given a death sentence. "I did what I had to do..." As she answered, Jane looked up; instantly, her expression turned into that of horror. But her gaze focused not Leo, but on something behind him.

"Mom? What are you doing?"

Hearing the cold voice of a child, Leo looked behind him to see a boy who should've been dead.

Standing on the edge of the broken house, he stood while rubbing his eyes. The shattered frozen flesh melted and reattached. The peeled off skin regrew to cover his regenerating flesh.

He pulled down his hand, allowing the glowing red eye to be seen. An eye as red and bright as one Leo had seen long ago in a time where his life had been a constant mess. An eye he had only seen once, possessed by the strongest person he ever knew.

"Leo, please! You have to kill him!" Jane pleaded. "Please... He's the monster. You can't let him live. If not, he's going to destroy the world."

"Huh?" Confused, Leo looked back for just a second when a rustle resounded behind him. Blacking out, Joseph fell forward and out of the house, diving into the broken lawn. Before he could touch the ground, Leo held an arm out; Joseph stopped falling and began slowly floating until he landed in Leo's arms. Leo opened Joseph's eyelids to see the red eyes, but it had disappeared.

With a clank, the front gate opened. Not wanting trouble, Leo aimed his palm at Jane. She got hit in the stomach and her head smashed into the invisible box, causing her to pass out. "Leo! What happened? Were you hurt?" Olie ran to Leo's side.

"There was a fight but I'm fine. I didn't get hit." Leo shook his head, trying to reassure Olie. He turned to Alexia. "Why did you two suddenly come here. Weren't you in the hospital checking on Talia's condition?"

"I just felt a big mana burst coming from here so I thought that there might be a fight. Though it seems to have ended," Alexia explained as she gazed the destroyed lawn. "And"—She put a hand on the invicible box—"Did you fight Jane? Why?"

"She tried to kill Joseph. It was fortunate that I came right before she did the murder." Leo stared at Alexia with a sardonic look. Within Leo's mind grew a suspicion. "She was spouting some nonesense about Joseph being the monster." And Alexia's brief expression of surprise gave confirmation. He then decided he would question Alexia too as to whether she knew about Joseph's monster form.