By Zephyria “Let’s do it, as you say.”
Leonardo’s face, which had been very serious, brightened as soon as he heard the positive answer. His eyes, which had grown bigger, even curved towards the person he was facing.
The smile melted Hugo’s heart, which had been stiff until just now, in an instant. He felt a similar emotion before, but the more he thought about it, the stranger it was.
Nothing had changed, but Leonardo’s smile cleanly shook off the anxiety and distractions within him. The fact that he unconsciously recalled this face when he stood in front of the core was probably a defense mechanism from his instincts.
Hugo didn’t want to distinguish whether the reason for that was because of Leonardo’s strength or solely because it was ‘him’. However, he decided to fully accept the fact that he, who was in front of him now, was a reliable support and reliance for him more than anyone else.
“G―ood.”
Leonardo raised the corners of his mouth refreshingly and patted Hugo’s shoulder a couple of times as if it were a reward for the decision. Hugo, who realized what it meant because it was always his behavior, unknowingly let out a small, open-hearted laugh.
Only after hearing the low voice mixed in with the laughter did Leonardo grab Hugo’s arm and get out of his embrace. Thanks to Hugo completely releasing his arm strength, he was able to get down easily enough to make the previous struggles pale in comparison.
The two people, who were floating in the sky, captured each other’s faces beyond the scattering white steam while looking at each other for a moment. In the meantime, the core roared sharply once again, continuously revealing its tiresome presence.
Leonardo, frowning, shifted his gaze in that direction, lightly loosening his right shoulder as if to step forward. But at that moment, as if a lingering attachment remained, Hugo’s hand reached out and firmly grasped Leonardo’s forearm.
“Leonardo.”
Leonardo paused and turned to the side, and as soon as he did, Hugo’s hand, which had approached unnoticed, gently cupped his blood-stained cheek.
“Don’t overdo it alone.”
A voice so sweet it was inappropriate for the situation tickled his ear and caressed his skin. His handsome eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and a sorrowful look lingered in his shadowed eyes.
The coolness he offered spread subtly over Leonardo’s feverishly flushed skin.
The familiar sense of security intertwined with his large palm. The brief moment of bewilderment vanished without a trace, and Leonardo slowly savored the sensation, closing and opening his eyes gently.
Soon, he lightly covered Hugo’s hand that cupped his cheek with his own. He couldn’t even cover it completely, lest Hugo’s hand be burned.
Leonardo, looking up at Hugo’s worried face, smiled again at the other man, his eyes curving.
“Don’t worry. I’m not alone.”
Then, unlike before, with a relatively lighter heart, he uttered the word he had not easily spoken.
“Do you… trust me?”
The moment Hugo heard that question, his eyes twitched. It wasn’t just that he hadn’t expected those words to come out in this situation.
It felt like he was back in that time, talking about different beliefs.
But the face before him no longer held the same resentment as then. The same pale face in the acrid smoke was gently asking him, as if giving him a chance.
Before he could even fathom the hidden meaning within, Hugo seized it. He answered sincerely, with more conviction than ever before.
“Of course. Of course, I trust you.”
Leonardo smiled contentedly at the answer. Then, he removed his hand from Hugo’s and disappeared like the wind, leaving behind only one word.
“Thank you.”
The warmth in his hand scattered vainly into the empty air along with his voice. Instinctively, Hugo turned his head down towards where the core was rampaging, chasing after the vanished warmth.
Brighter than anything else in the world, a light reappeared above the large peak covered in thick fog. Watching his back as he fearlessly cut through the darkness, Hugo murmured softly, as if conveying it to him.
“Go, Leonardo. I’m counting on you.”
For a while, Hugo followed the trajectory of the light he left behind with his eyes, and soon discovered another shadow following behind him. He watched it with narrowed eyes for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the northern plains.
Extending his right arm towards the sky, he fired a huge blue flare.
By the time the light of the flare filled the sky, he too had disappeared from there like the wind.
Phew―
Leonardo, descending through the mountain range at a lower altitude, looked up at the blue light exploding like fireworks high above. The fragments of light, scattered like embers, densely embroidered the darkened sky.
Because the clouds were thick, even the stars and moon were obscured, so the shape drawn by the light was clearer than ever.
‘V’
The shape, which resembled its owner and was flawless with sharp angles, made Leonardo chuckle.
“V, huh? Good meaning.”
The signal from the Legion Commander announcing the start of ‘plan 5’. It was like the prelude to ‘victory’ being widely proclaimed throughout the peninsula.
To perfectly carry the flow of this prelude to the end, Leonardo, who quickly erased his smile, looked down with a serious expression.
The commanders who were attacking the monster were also momentarily paused, looking at the signal spread in the sky. They exchanged glances with each other, then stopped the attack operationally and retreated north.
The core, which had been chased by the humans, also stopped at one point to assess the situation due to the sudden unusual movements of the humans. The dark red eyeballs, which were busily scanning the surroundings, soon turned to Leonardo floating in the sky.
Kyak―
The king of the demon beast of the peninsula, coiling on the peak of the dormant volcano and moving eerily like a snake.
It swelled its body to the fullest and roared savagely, glaring at the small sun in front of it with a fierce look. Then, it repeatedly struck the Boulder it was standing on with the heavy iron mace hanging from the end of its tail. The Boulder fragments that were split by the impact fell in a shower, precariously hanging on the mountainside.
Subsequently, the core’s abdomen and neck twisted suspiciously and churned. As if trying to vomit something, it opened its maw and scattered a mysterious fluid flowing down its tongue over the Boulder fragments.
There was no noticeable change on the surface of the Boulder where the liquid was applied, so it was difficult to judge it as an acidic liquid. Leonardo raised his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes, watching the scene quietly.
Soon, the core, having poured out all the fluid, spewed black flames over it. Then, as if pouring oil, the wet Boulder instantly caught fire and blazed fiercely.
Having created a powerful weapon, it quickly crawled down the mountainside. Then, it swung its tail vigorously at the pile of Boulder fragments, firing the burning Boulder like a cannonball.
“Oh, it can do things like that too.”
Even though a huge, glowing Boulder was flying towards him, Leonardo maintained a relaxed demeanor, not even trying to avoid it. Only when the meteor-like objects with long trails of fire approached within 50m did he slowly reach out his hand forward, intending to shoot them down all at once.
At that moment, a familiar shadow appeared in the blink of an eye and suddenly blocked Leonardo’s path. Then, without hesitation, it rushed towards the Boulder flying first and threw a punch.
Kwaaaang―
One of the Boulder hit by the fist thinly split from the point of impact outwards, and soon turned into perfect powder and scattered in the air.
Seeing the Boulder flying in succession after that, Nero clasped his hands together and raised them high above his head. Then, after moving to the appropriate position, he matched the angle and slammed both hands down as they were.
Kwaaaang―!
The Boulder that had been flying horizontally was hit by Nero’s fist and fell vertically. Even the remaining Boulder were kicked by his left foot and disappeared into dust, or were half-destroyed and bounced off.
Nero cleanly smashed all the Boulder with his bare body so that not a single spark would fly behind him to Leonardo. Soon, after everything in his sight had disappeared, he lightly flew up and moved next to his commander.
Silently watching Nero standing next to him, Leonardo lowered his voice half-jokingly, half-seriously.
“You’re late.”
Nero, who had been destroying the Boulder and feeling triumphant, turned his head and retorted as if feeling wronged.
“Hey, how late could I be? Anyway, I came in time, didn’t I?”
“What were you doing until now?”
“…Umm.”
Nero, unable to say that he had been unconscious and had woken up midway to have someone see his face, scratched the back of his head and awkwardly laughed it off. Then, to change the subject, he scanned Leonardo’s appearance, which seemed definitely different from before, with pure curiosity and asked back.
“So, what happened to you, Commander?”
It wasn’t a detailed question, but Leonardo could understand Nero’s intention at once. But this wasn’t a story that could be explained in detail either, and it wasn’t a situation where they could leisurely have a conversation, so he glossed over it.
“Well, there were various circumstances. More importantly, you, protect me from now on. Now that it’s come to this, there’s something I want to try.”
“Something you want to try?”
No sooner had Nero asked back with a puzzled face than a huge golden Magic Circle unfolded in the sky. It was an enormous size, covering a radius of at least several kilometers.
The Magic Circle, whose surface was fiercely boiling like ultra-high-temperature lava, seemed to contain a threatening amount of energy, as if it would pour something out at any moment.
“Since that guy started first, I should send him something similar.”
Leonardo, raising his right arm towards the sky, stretched the end of it towards the monster visible in front. At that moment, a dark red light shone from the large Magic Circle, and from within it, huge Boulder like real meteorites began to pour out.
Nero’s eyes widened and he unknowingly opened his mouth at the sight that covered everything his eyes could reach.
Soon, with the momentum to finish off the monster, Leonardo chanted an ominous spell.
“Armageddon.”