By Zephyria Hugo’s gaze and body remained frozen for a while. As if he had forgotten to breathe, there was no movement in his breathing, unlike his rough pulse.
A chillingly horrific sight created by just one human, just one attack.
The vivid image of hell created by a single blow looked like a scene of judgment from heaven.
After looking around the devastated scenery for a while, Hugo lowered Dellua and Marlene, who were slipping from his arms, to the ground. Then, he straightened his back again and shifted his gaze upwards, staring at the being that had dyed the sky golden.
The golden flames, stretching out from his blood-stained shoulders, fluttered powerfully like a huge cloak. Clear high-voltage currents, drawing bright yellow streaks, continued to appear and disappear around him.
It decorated Leonardo’s back, which radiated an imposing aura, even more divinely and brilliantly. At the same time, the heavy vibrations of the low frequency spread in all directions, making the earth resonate like a dedication song for him.
The sight evoked primal fear rather than an opportunity for a blessing in disguise. Because of this, Meterion and Isabella, who were on either side of him, instinctively took a step back. Dellua, who was sitting awkwardly on the ground, also pushed the dirt floor with her feet and gradually crawled backwards.
At that moment, Leonardo, who had been floating leisurely in the steam, suddenly extinguished the Flame Sword he had been holding in his hand. Then, he glanced at the canyon beneath his feet once, and suddenly stretched out his arm towards the demon beasts on the other side.
In an instant, hot air swirled and an unusual current gathered around him. Leonardo spread out his right hand, which was not holding anything, and aimed his palm towards the front. Then, from left to right, he slowly drew a line in the air. Magic was not fired from his hand, but the real beginning was from now on.
Kwagwagwagwang!
A violent explosion occurred along the trajectory of Leonardo’s palm in the gaps of the distant mountain range that coincided with the end of the plain. It was even a chain explosion, not a single one, and the impact detonated the bodies of the fleeing demon beasts without a trace.
Subsequently, as the mountain range was destroyed and the rock walls and earth collapsed, the monsters, whose retreat had been blocked in an instant, floundered in the gaps. In the end, they were pierced through to the bone by heated rock fragments and screamed, suffering a large-scale massacre.
To those far away, it just looked like thousands of lights were flashing, but the fierce shockwave that spread from there made them indirectly realize its power.
Meanwhile, from Leonardo’s clean, relaxed movements, Hugo, who was looking up at him, felt a more overwhelming power than ever before. Even so, the sight constantly made him gauge and doubt Leonardo’s condition.
‘It’s a rampage… but is he still conscious?’
A rampage. It meant a phenomenon in which a person with Magic Power could not control their own power being emitted. It was a concept similar to instability of control, but a rampage could occur even when magic was not being cast, and it was on a different level in terms of scale and impact.
They couldn’t stop even if they wanted to, and their consciousness was swallowed up along the way, losing their reason. In the end, the body, unable to withstand the Magic Power, was torn to pieces and self-destructed without even knowing the pain.
The boiling energy that was constantly being emitted seemed to Hugo to be similar to the symptoms of a Mage’s rampage. However, it was difficult to see it as a complete rampage due to his ability to distinguish between friend and foe, his judgment in identifying targets, and his ability to control his power to some extent.
Then, what on earth is the source of this sudden power?
As if to answer Hugo’s question instead, the core on the other side roared savagely once again.
「How on earth, how on earth are you still alive?」
The core’s voice, audible only to the two, was filled with excitement and agitation. Its upturned eyes and half-spread wings trembled as if it had seen something it shouldn’t have.
「You should have already died, so why are you still alive!」
The cornered monster puffed up its body and snapped. It seemed extremely angry, but its eyes held an unknown fear.
Hugo vaguely sensed that someone other than Leonardo was reflected in its eyes. As it roared fiercely to threaten its opponent, a crimson breath mixed with Ultrasound covered the humans’ vision.
Hugo, who had been standing still, reflexively took a step forward to block the attack. But a flashing light was faster than Hugo’s movement.
Leonardo, who appeared on the ground at a speed that even the eyes couldn’t follow, struck down the incoming mass of flames in one blow.
KWAH-AH-AH-ANG!
The flames, blocked from crossing the canyon, bounced back mixed with hot steam. At the same time, the powerful energy emitted around Leonardo caused the ground to cave in the moment his feet neared the ground.
Starting from that point, cracks spread across the floor, and the surrounding land shook heavily. Just as Hugo, who had been faltering, regained his balance, a chilling voice flowed from ‘him,’ who had approached within about 7 meters.
“You’ve been chattering noisily since earlier, just making strange noises.”
The eerily scattering golden hair and the golden current running across its surface. The heavy wave that vibrated the air suited his low voice very well.
“Why are you treating a perfectly alive person like a dead man? It’s annoying.”
Leonardo’s furrowed brow revealed his displeasure. There was no tremor in his voice, but it was mixed with a strangely rough breath, making him sound somewhat precarious.
Hugo, who had been quietly observing the situation, quickly regained his senses and approached him. Then, he carefully reached out his hand and called his name softly.
“Leonardo.”
“Don’t come near me.”
But Hugo had no choice but to stop abruptly at the sharp voice that immediately cut off his approach.
His outstretched hand also twitched in the air. Soon after, Leonardo’s face, which was half-turned, showed a rather difficult expression.
“…Because it’s dangerous.”
He was wearing a faint smile. But only his lips were barely smiling, and his distorted eyes were all the more clear. Hugo remained in place, examining Leonardo’s face, and finally, his gaze naturally shifted to the area around his neck.
The black choker was glowing gold as if it were overloaded. Leonardo’s vast Magic Power, which was being endlessly released, was being sucked into the choker and drawing out even more power.
The sight was by no means normal, and Hugo’s expression hardened coldly.
“Leonardo, you—”
“Later, I’ll explain later.”
As if he had guessed what he wanted to say, Leonardo raised one hand and preempted him. Then, he turned his gaze back to the monster across the canyon, took a deep breath, and continued.
“I don’t have much time right now.”
Leonardo’s shoulders rose and fell sharply. His body, bearing the burden of infinite power, swayed precariously as if it would collapse at any moment.
Nevertheless, he stood firmly at the forefront, confronting the demon beasts, and gripped his left chest, hoping it wouldn’t be seen from behind.
‘Damn it… It feels like my heart is burning.’
The unidentified medicine that Alec Siles had given him. From the moment he took it, Magic Power began to gush out like crazy. At the same time, his heart heated up as if it had been thrown into lava, and he felt a terrible pain as if he was being stabbed deeply with a long needle.
But there was no time to fear each of those pains and hold back. With most of the Council’s top forces defeated, if he couldn’t stop it in the plains, the peninsula’s final defense line would be as good as annihilated.
In the meantime, the Amplifier’s duration was only three hours.
No matter what, he had to settle things with that monster within that time.
Leonardo, who had been frowning deeply, slowly removed his hand from his chest. Then, he gripped the blazing sword in his hand and pointed its tip towards the core across the canyon.
“Hey, listen up.”
His voice, echoing through the canyon, was enough to pressure the monsters at least 100 meters away.
As they flinched and stepped back, Leonardo pointed the tip of his sword at the boundary line he had drawn in front of them and said.
“From that line to this side, it’s all Laina Rogia’s territory.”
Soon, the sword tip, with flames swirling around it, slammed into the ground in front of Leonardo’s feet. He scanned the crowd with a blazing gaze and recited each word as if he would devour them.
“And as long as I’m standing here, not a single one of you can set foot inside this territory.”
Red blood flowed down from under his fiercely shining eyes. The same was true between his chapped lips. The hot, fishy taste soaked his chin and neck, clearly warning of his unstable physical condition.
Nevertheless, Leonardo lightly wiped away the flowing blood with the back of his hand and grinned with a relaxed expression. He didn’t care that his cheeks were covered in blood and declared war on them savagely.
“Come on if you want to die.”
His words changed the flow of the air.
Hugo felt the situation change in an instant with his whole body.
The demon beasts huddled together and surged like waves, and the core, which had shrunk its body, slowly retreated.
Hugo, who had been staring blankly at Leonardo’s back in front of him, focused his senses on the gradually changing atmosphere behind him.
Clang—
The sound of lifting heavy metal was heard from all directions at about the same time. In succession, painful groans and panting filled every corner of the earth.
As Hugo slowly turned his head with a puzzled expression, he was soon able to face his unit members spread out across the wide plains. Those who had been helplessly sprawled out were now staggering to their feet, standing firm with weapons and resolve in their hands.
Hugo, looking back at them with slightly widened eyes, saw courage beyond fear in the tattered pairs of eyes. His unit members, who had been driven to their limits, were burning their last will to fight thanks to Leonardo’s voice.
He took in the sight of those unit members one by one, then turned his head again to look at Leonardo in front of him. As he quietly watched his firm back, he was suddenly reminded of the story about ‘war heroes’ that Abraham Lancaster used to tell so often.
It was a topic that he had heard and discussed with his teacher to the point of exhaustion when he was taking classes on the qualities of a commander in the past.
At that time, he thought that the existence of war heroes in this world was nothing more than a good-looking title and a scapegoat to create the justification for war. They were like loyal and efficient chess pieces that the vested interests, who needed to win public sentiment, could easily use.
But Abraham’s opinion was a little different. He said that there were endless symbols contained within war heroes to simply dismiss them as chess pieces. The image of war heroes that Abraham mainly talked about was the hope, savior, light, and the wishes of the people struggling in a difficult life.
At the time, Hugo thought that his teacher’s words were an excessive praise that obscured the essence of war. Because of that, he reacted somewhat coldly, expressing his respect but not really paying attention.
But now, standing in the middle of the peninsula. He didn’t know why that incident suddenly came to mind, but Hugo was once again deeply reflecting on his conversation with his teacher.
Cheeeee—
Just in time, hazy steam rose from the cross-section of the stratum that had revealed its red flesh, as if the ground was breathing. The heat haze blurred the vision, creating an even more dangerous yet overwhelming atmosphere.
Dellua, who had been sitting on the ground, picked up a metal bar that was rolling around haphazardly. Then, she grabbed Meterion next to her and struggled to her feet, raising it high and shouting.
“All members of the 6th Battalion, prepare to attack—!”
Her desperate cry cut through the plains, and the unit members, who had been staring ahead, all braced themselves at once.
Leonardo, who was standing at the very front, was no exception. He pulled the sword out of the ground, gripped it in both hands, lowered his posture as if he would jump out at any moment, and emitted energy.
Soon after, Dellua, clutching her abdomen, stood up on her own, her neck veins standing out. She pulled out her last voice and shouted loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“Charge—!”
At that moment, the morale that had soared like a volcano quickly crossed the blood-stained earth.
Leonardo, who had sunk the ground he was standing on in an instant, jumped into the enemy lines before anyone else. Following the glorious shadow that was scattering white steam, the unit members flew over the canyon, shouting like thunder.
Hugo, in that scene of history that brushed past him, gripped his Greatsword and naturally joined the wave. Even so, he finally deeply sympathized with what his teacher had said to him in the past.
The hope, savior, and light of the people. Their wishes were unfolding at this moment.
The one that all the people of the empire loved in those days of war.
This country’s hero is right before my eyes.