BMD 178

“Now—!”

The two people, who were covered in Magic Power as if they were armed, leaped powerfully into the sky. At the same time as Leonardo’s cry, which was difficult to understand, Isabella, clutching her scythe, increased her speed to the maximum.

The tip of the blade, which was overflowing with a poisonous aura, was clearly aiming for the Queen’s tail.

Hugo, who had hesitated, also grasped the intentions of the two and charged towards the core with them.

Leonardo flew even faster than them and created a crimson Magic Power mass in his hand. It was different from the Fireball or Red ray he had used so far, and it was lava boiling at such a high temperature that it would melt everything it touched. It was a threatening and destructive energy that made the core slow down for a moment and roll its eyes.

‘Please work, please.’

Leonardo, taking advantage of the gap, threw the lava mass at the Queen with all his might, filled with desperate wishes.

The monster, seeing the magma flying in the air, hurriedly changed direction, but dozens of Hugo’s Ice Pillars poured down in front of it like rain.

The giant body, blocked from retreating, flinched and cried out nervously. Leonardo did not miss the moment and fired another Red ray behind the flying lava. The ray crossed the sky at the speed of light and quickly caught up with the lava, and finally the two concentrations of Magic Power collided in the air.

Kwaaaang!

The seething embers scattered in all directions with a powerful wave. The Queen, who had hardened her neck at the flashing signal, broke the ice in front of her and grabbed a Boulder. However, the scattered magma spread all over the monster’s body and flowed down thickly while burning. The hide was melting and even boiling in places other than the hardened areas.

Kaaaaaak—

The Queen screamed and shook her body violently. In the same situation, Isabella’s scythe was deeply embedded in the monster’s tail.

Unlike before, the large and small scratches had opened up the hide, so the giant scythe easily cut through the thick nerve tissue and muscle fibers. Seeing this, Hugo concentrated his Ice Pillars on the monster’s neck and sent a signal to the two.

“Now!”

The core, crushed by the pouring icicles, was fixed to the wall, and Leonardo joined Isabella and brutally tore apart the split flesh.

Every time the tips of their swords and scythes pierced through the flesh, blood mixed with acid and poison splattered and soaked the two people’s bodies. But they only roughly covered their faces with their forearms and frantically hacked at the tail.

The moment the descending flame sword pierced through the nerves and sent out black sparks, the core trembled all over as if it had been electrocuted. The monster swung its tail wildly from side to side in an attempt to shake off the two humans, but as a result, the half-cut tail snapped off and flew towards the wall.

The cross-section, kneaded with flesh, blood vessels, and bone fragments, finally revealed its appearance. At the same time, Leonardo pushed Isabella’s shoulder, causing her to move out of range.

“Get away!”

However, Leonardo, who had been hanging on the direction in which the tail was bending, could not overcome the centrifugal force and was pushed back by the mass of flesh. He hurriedly erected an Aura behind his back to cushion the impact, but the heavy tail collided with the wall and crushed his body.

“Heok—.”

He gasped for breath, his vision temporarily blurred. At that moment, a familiar voice stimulated his ears.

“Leonardo!”

^

Kwaaaang!

Before the heavy scent of body odor wafted over him, he saw the monster’s forepaw flying from over his shoulder. He expected to be swallowed by the huge shadow as it was, but his body, which had been helplessly dragged away, was thrown away by a strong force.

At about the same time, a violent impact echoed around him. Leonardo flew again as if he would break the railing and slammed his back hard against the cliff.

A stinging pain, as if his ribs had cracked for a moment, and he swallowed a groan and fell weakly to the bottom.

Fortunately, he managed to avoid falling by hooking his body onto the floor that hadn’t collapsed, but he kept coughing because of the dust that was coming into his nose.

“Cough, cough—.”

His eyelids fluttered because his eyes were extremely sore, as if foreign substances had gotten into them. The hazy dust obscured his vision and made his judgment blurry. However, the scream-like cry that followed immediately pulled out his fading mind.

“Supreme Commander!”

As Isabella’s shrill voice echoed like a reverberation, Leonardo reflexively raised his chin and squinted at the direction he had flown from.

As the swaying smoke gradually cleared, he stopped breathing at the figure in front of him. With a pale face, he unknowingly called out the other person’s name.

“Hugo—!”

His desperate voice echoed once again in the wide space.

Nevertheless, Hugo could only pant and couldn’t respond to them right away.

From the crevices of the cliff, which were cracked and dented in all directions, he felt as if his whole body was being crushed and his organs were rupturing.

The shock that he had faced instead of Leonardo after pushing him away was so overwhelming that he couldn’t even make a sound with his eyes wide open.

Around Hugo, ice was spread out like the shape of Magic Power exploding. The sharp tips pierced through the skin of the monster’s foot that was grabbing him and soared up brutally.

「……a…e.」

If he hadn’t released Magic Power the moment he was caught by the monster, his body might have really been crushed. In the meantime, the ice surface covered with the core’s blood and acidic liquid crackled.

「t…a…….」

But more than the sense of crisis it gave him, his Adam’s apple involuntarily stirred at the ominous gleam shining through the smoke. Ten crimson eyes slowly approached and looked down at the forepaw that had become a honeycomb. Then, as if venting its anger, it slowly pressed Hugo’s body against the wall.

“Keuheok—.”

A heavy groan burst from his mouth at the considerable pressure. His pale complexion flushed red, his eyes were bloodshot, and thick veins bulged on his forehead.

「……s.」

An unknown warm heat pooled inside his body, then instantly crossed his trachea and poured out between his lips. Looking down at the considerable amount of blood he was spitting out, Hugo had all sorts of thoughts in that instant.

Among them, the biggest concern was that the unpleasant noise he had recognized a little while ago was suddenly becoming clearer.

「Annoying bastard.」

Hugo reflexively widened his eyes.

As if his blocked ears had opened, a strange voice dug into his ears and made his head ring.

「I missed it.」

He, who could hardly hold his head up, seriously wondered if something had happened to his head due to the impact just now. He didn’t have the ability to read the expressions of demon beasts, but he had a feeling that the source of this voice, which seemed to be angry, was that monster.

A thousand-year-old devil staring at him with its mouth torn wide open. The monster was speaking in human language as if it was angry.

“……”

But a demon beast is talking. Is that even possible? He had seen many Deformed species, but he had never met one like that.

But then, an old record engraved in the ruins of the peninsula came to mind. At the same time, Leonardo’s figure, asking if I occasionally heard strange noises, flashed through my mind.

The scenes of him stumbling or rubbing his temples as if enduring a headache became vivid one by one.

Everything was coming together.

‘He’s been hearing this sound all along?’

With difficulty, Hugo only rolled his eyes and looked in the direction where Leonardo’s voice had been heard. It was to check on his condition.

But there was no sign of him in the place where he was expected to be. He quickly scanned the gaps between the Boulders up and down, but it was the same.

He wondered if his focus was off due to the increased intraocular pressure, but even so, there was no way his eyes could have missed the clear colors emanating from Leonardo’s hair and clothes.

His gaze, which had been wandering in the air, returned to its original position. It seemed that the monster had been aiming for Leonardo from the start, so he hoped he was hiding in a place where the monster couldn’t see him.

But as always, contrary to his wishes, Gold Eyes came into view as soon as he turned his head. Leonardo, who had appeared in an instant without even feeling a presence, rushed at the monster, clutching crackling sparks.

The end of it was aimed at the Queen’s eyeball.

The eyeball, belatedly sensing the killing intent, rolled towards the high-voltage current. The monster was exposing its glossy eyeball without any cover, as if it had forgotten about the Hardening Art.

Even though the distance to the tip was only about 1 meter, Leonardo increased his speed towards the monster, which showed no particular movement, and ruthlessly struck down the murderous intent in his hands.

But just before the sharp end pierced into the pupil, another strange voice echoed coldly in the minds of the two.

「If you stab me, this guy dies.」

Leonardo’s arm froze in mid-air. His Gold Eyes widened as if he couldn’t believe it.