By Zephyria Hugo’s brow furrowed slightly at Leonardo’s actions of looking straight into his eyes and coldly telling him not to interfere. It was because it seemed like he was acting recklessly again even though he was exhausted.
Similarly, Hugo stared straight into his eyes, implying that he would not let go easily. As an invisible spark flew between the two gazes that met, the messengers nearby took a slight step back and distanced themselves from the two.
Hugo looked at the fierce golden eyes that did not seem to want to back down at all, and suddenly noticed that Leonardo’s eyes were bloodshot with fatigue and had a reddish tinge.
At that moment, that appearance made him feel more pity than threat, and he was swept up in a strange impulse that made him feel like his hand would caress those eyes.
Hugo closed his eyes tightly and then opened them, sighing softly. This staring contest was no longer a meaningful act.
Originally, he would have chosen the method of ordering him to rest, even by force. However, he thought that it would not be a good idea to forcefully control him now, after having decided to respect his wishes to some extent just a moment ago.
Leonardo met his gaze with his eyes sharply open until Hugo released his arm. Eventually, Hugo, who had been contemplating, gently released the arm he had been holding. Instead, he earnestly told him.
“Don’t go too far. You have to be nearby so I can know right away if something happens.”
Leonardo was puzzled by Hugo’s unexpectedly easy release, but he didn’t like the way he spoke as if he were talking to a child put out on the waterfront, so he deliberately didn’t answer.
He wasn’t so weak that he couldn’t take care of his own body, no matter how tired he was. But his words, which made him feel like he was suddenly caring about him, as if some kind of change of heart had occurred, felt unfamiliar, and Leonardo distorted his expression. However, he soon turned around again without saying anything and leaped from his spot.
Hugo didn’t grab him this time. However, he quietly conveyed to his back.
“Be careful, Leonardo.”
When he heard a worried voice again from behind, Leonardo stopped briefly in the air and glanced back at Hugo.
But that was only for a very short time, and he turned his head and quickly flew away somewhere, lest he be caught again.
Hugo looked at his receding figure with a displeased face. It was because he wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do.
Seeing him caring about the sound of the radio, he had a feeling that he would go to support the members, even though he had said he wouldn’t save them before.
Hugo was very unhappy with his actions of trying to go straight to the battlefield with his tired body, but thinking positively again, it might be better for him to be with other members than to leave him alone.
And even if he was tired, he would be stronger than most members. Hugo decided to put aside his worries about him, who had quickly disappeared from his sight. Now he had to go and check on the situation of the Southern Branch vanguard as soon as possible.
When Hugo turned around to head there, the two messengers from the Southern Branch were silently looking at each other with eyes full of questions.
They were exchanging unspoken words about this situation, but when they met eyes with the Commander who had turned around, they were quite surprised but tried to hide their feelings.
Hugo glanced at them, who seemed to have been caught exchanging strange glances, and then recalled the urgent matter again and said.
“Let’s go quickly.”
^
How much time had passed?
Leonardo was wandering between the towering peaks.
As Hugo had expected, he immediately moved to find the location of the coordinates he had heard on the radio, but he still hadn’t found the location even though quite a bit of time had passed.
The reason for this was that, unlike teleportation tools that move based on coordinates, teleportation magic that uses unique magic power is based on the caster’s consciousness, so it is impossible to move to a place that has never been visited before unless it is within the caster’s field of vision.
In addition, the fact that he did not have enough magic power left to use teleportation as he pleased, as he had been continuously using vast amounts of magic power without rest, also contributed to the situation he was wandering in.
Also, in remote areas such as the Elder Milli Peninsula, where terrain changes frequently due to natural influences, the height from the ground is not constant, so the credibility of the coordinates themselves is low, and even if you know the coordinates, it is difficult to estimate the exact location because the reference point is not specified.
So, Leonardo was moving only short distances within the range of his eyes as much as possible, and was tracking the faint magic power of the 1st Battalion members who were already in the midst of battle, referring to the coordinate system he possessed.
He really wanted to turn off his mind now, but he found out that the voice that had requested support on the radio was the voice of that clumsy guy who had thanked him last night, so he felt very uncomfortable just leaving him alone.
‘I’m living a tiring life, really.’
Leonardo frowned and roughly ruffled his hair as he looked around. He was very dumbfounded by the fact that he was heading that way.
In the end, he was doing tiring things again on his own without anyone telling him to. But he was trying to convince himself that this was also part of the subjugation, and he was gradually approaching the coordinates he had heard on the radio.
It seemed that he had found the right place, even though he had wandered around for a long time. Before long, he gradually felt the magic power of the members more strongly in the distance. In addition, the sound of intermittent explosions and the cries of the Dermokas were heard.
He followed the loudly echoing sound and entered a deep valley on the mountainside. He couldn’t see an inch ahead even though he seemed to be relatively close because it was shrouded in a hazy substance, whether it was fog or smoke.
Before long, he encountered Dermokas crawling out in droves from the cracks in the split cliff while suppressing their sounds as much as possible. When Leonardo saw them disgustingly clumped together, he frowned and lightly fired two beams.
Kwaaaang―!
The beams that flew at a speed that the demon beasts could not recognize were embedded in the middle of the wriggling mass. Then, with the impact, several of them fell to the bottom of the invisible valley below along with some of the broken cliff. The ones that were nearby and missed felt threatened and made bizarre noises before hiding back inside the crack.
Leonardo watched the scene quietly. Whether it was because they had dug a cave or because there had been a lot of rain recently, the rock walls and soil seemed quite weak, and it was an environment where it was easy to die if a landslide occurred during battle.
Leonardo, thinking that it would be no good for the battle to drag on, immediately flew further down and heated up the surrounding temperature. As the condensed water vapor evaporated due to the temporarily increased temperature, the view was slightly secured, and soon the scene of a battle in full swing was visible on the mountainside in front, which was shaped like a dent.
However, not only there but also from the back and near the bottom of the cliff, the sound of destruction caused by magic and the screams of the demon beasts were heard. It seemed that the members were scattered and fighting in the vicinity because there were so many of them.
Leonardo immediately flew to the nearest battlefield and gathered blazing flames in his hand. As soon as he fired the flames at the disgustingly swarming Dermokas, the demon beasts screamed as they were hit and burned to death without being able to escape at that speed.
One of the 1st Battalion members who was struggling to confront them alone suddenly raised his head at the powerful magic that suddenly flew in and unknowingly made a happy expression when he discovered Leonardo. Leonardo, seeing that expression, muttered with a dumbfounded face.
“What are you smiling at? Do you think I came to help you?”
As soon as the nearby kin were burned to death in an instant, the Dermokas remembered Leonardo’s threatening magic power that had massacred their kin before, and rushed into the tunnels they had come out of to survive.
Leonardo looked around, searching for the clumsy new member who was the purpose of his visit here. But only a faint magic power was felt, and he couldn’t be seen, so it seemed that he wasn’t here.
As soon as he confirmed his absence, Leonardo lightly ignored the member waving at him and left the spot to head to another battlefield.
And at that moment, a loud explosion and the sound of rocks collapsing were heard from the bottom of the cliff, which was not clearly visible due to the white water vapor.