Alpha Instinct

"We needn't resort to battle, as you can plainly see. I am... above your capabilities." He spoke with a deliberate, measured tone, each word carefully enunciated, like a seasoned nobleman.

He then moved, with an unsettling grace, crossing the distance and stopping directly beside Mikaela. His gaze, hungry and voracious, was fixed upon her.

Mikaela displayed no fear, only caution and a watchful stillness. She knew exactly what this creature was.

Evelyn clenched her fist, her eyes narrowed at the grotesque spectacle. "I have to act if he tries anything…" she thought, schemes already forming in her mind.

"Don't touch her," Leonard growled, his voice faltering with a mixture of anger and fear. "Or you'll regret it."

The man slowly turned his head, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Well, well, well, what have we here? Peculiar eyes you possess, my young man. What brings a nobleman to such... remote lands?"

"Nobleman? I'm no nobleman...," Leonard thought, confused. Then, Saito's words echoed in his memory: Your blue eyes… they are the mark of royalty.

Leonard decided to play along. He straightened his posture, adopting a more authoritative tone.

"Indeed, I am a Winter," he declared, emphasizing the name. "And who might you be? Introduce yourself."

"My, my, aren't we demanding?" George Lacius VI replied, a hint of amusement in his voice. "A proper conversation between gentlemen requires a certain... decorum. Allow me to introduce myself properly." He made a slight, almost mocking bow. "I am George Lacius the Sixth, Neumond Equalizer, and... shall we say, branch manager for the Cult of the Four Midnight Moons here in Armeria."

Leonard decided to push his bluff further. "I am here on a mission, by royal decree, to investigate the attack on Armeria."

George Lacius VI's eyes widened slightly, a flicker of surprise—or perhaps feigned surprise—crossing his face. "My deepest apologies, young master Winter," he said, his voice dripping with false humility. "I assure you, the attack was... unintentional. The Leirions, you see, can be rather... unruly. A slight miscalculation on our part."

"Which cost thousands of lives! You must pay for this!" Leonard raised his voice, indignation taking over.

"Pay?" George replied, raising an eyebrow. A deadly gaze, cold as ice, swept over Leonard. "I believe you are confusing goodwill with submission, young Winter."

Mikaela, seeing the tension rising, stepped forward, her voice clear and firm. "I am the Holy Paladin who bears the Chalice of Light," she declared, exuding her blessed aura, a wave of pure, comforting energy that filled the surroundings. "Are you against the Church?"

George grimaced, as if the light physically bothered him. "Ahh, finally the beautiful, blonde lady speaks a word." Mikaela's stomach churned with disgust at the sound of that honeyed, insinuating voice.

He continued, "That aura of yours is bothering me a bit, if I may say so. Would you mind withdrawing it so that we can converse civilly?"

Mikaela, reluctantly but strategically, withdrew her benevolent aura.

"Let's just say that the Church and the Cult are like oil and water, Paladin," George explained, with an affected smile. "We are not necessarily enemies, but... we decidedly do not mix."

"Just like oil and water, you're the part that stays on the bottom, you crawling worm!" Kaleb blurted out, with his usual lack of subtlety.

George glanced at Kaleb, impatience written on his face. A snap of his fingers, a movement too fast to follow, and a bolt of black energy formed, ready to be fired at the mage.

But before the attack could materialize, Evelyn emerged from Kaleb's shadows. A black and imposing kamui enveloped her.

Subterfuge level three: dancing shadows wove an ephemeral armor around her body, and a single, imposing black wing, made of dense, dark smoke, extended from her back, like the very incarnation of night. Evelyn's eyes were like two hungry black holes.

Evelyn's dagger collided with the energy bolt, deflecting it with a bang that echoed through the clearing, generating a powerful sonic wave. The bolt struck the large stone wall in a huge explosion in the background.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, demon…," Evelyn hissed, her voice full of menace.

George, for an instant, seemed genuinely surprised, and soon, amazed. His eyes shone with a mixture of admiration and lust.

Mikaela, taking advantage of George's brief distraction, focused on reading the energy that emanated from his ELEV at the moment of the attack. "You are only a platinum-rank Neumond," she declared firmly. "You wouldn't stand a chance against the four of us, Gold ranks."

George shrugged, a smug smile returning to his face. "Perhaps not. But I guarantee I would take at least two of you to the grave with me."

Leonard's anger, which had been simmering beneath the surface, now threatened to boil over. "Calm down, Evelyn," he said, his voice tense, "or I won't be able to hold myself back." The threat, although directed at George, contained a veiled warning to Evelyn herself.

George, seemingly ignoring the growing tension, turned his attention back to Leonard. "And you, dear Winter, have yet to grace me with your first name."

"Leonard," he replied, his voice icy. "Leonard Winter, son of Leah Winter." His eyes, once just cold, now looked like icebergs on the verge of collapse, emanating a contained fury.

A brief, almost imperceptible, flicker of dread crossed George's eyes. "But Leah was presumed dead after fleeing Fros...," he thought, the surprise quickly replaced by scorn. "Too much bluffing is an act of defiance, dear Leonard," he retorted, with a venomous smile. "Or do you intend to run away, as your dear mother did?"

The taunt hit its mark. Evelyn, unable to contain herself, released all her shadow energy, the darkness swirling around her like a storm about to break.

But Leonard, with a quick, firm gesture of his hand, held her back. "This is on me now, Evelyn," he said, his voice low but filled with a frightening intensity.

He took the amulet he always carried, opened it, and briefly contemplated Leah's photo. He closed the amulet, putting it back in his pocket. Leonard closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and focusing.

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Then, he unleashed.

For the first time, Leonard consciously released his Battle Aura, manifesting his full potential as a physical Neumond. An electric aura, intense and vibrant blue, crackled around him, like a miniature storm. Turbulent winds, generated by his energy, swirled and danced around him, lifting dust and debris from the clearing floor.

His eyes, now, were no longer cold as ice, but rather shining, with small electric sparks dancing in their irises, like a foreshadowing of an electric deity.

"You will pay dearly for saying that..." Leonard hissed, each syllable loaded with a controlled but terrifying fury.