By Zephyria BOOM—
An ominous roar, as if the ground were collapsing, echoed between the towering peaks. Hugo and Isabella, who had been chasing the light at high speed, stopped immediately in mid-air upon hearing the sound.
The two, who had been watching the situation while staring into the distance for a moment, flung their bodies to either side about 1.5 seconds later. No sooner had they hidden their bodies behind a thick rock wall than a destructive shockwave swept through their previous location.
CRRRAAASH—!
The heavy wind pressure, expanding its area in a spherical form, annihilated everything blocking its path. Two medium-sized peaks below were instantly crushed into dust and vanished under the pressure.
Hugo, watching the brutal scene with bated breath, felt the magnitude of the power mixed within it laid bare.
A single light illuminating the darkness. It was the phrase that best expressed Leonardo’s influence on this land.
However, the sight of the pulverized peak before him and the scorched earth only added certainty to the unease Hugo had been harboring all along.
Leonardo was currently quite impatient.
That fearsome power of unknown origin was clearly driving him to the extreme.
As evidence of this, Leonardo’s attacks, which showed no mercy, left no room for anyone to intervene. As if his sole goal was to eliminate the core in a short time, he relentlessly poured out attacks, sacrificing precision and meticulousness for overwhelming power.
His actions, capable of splitting the earth and blowing away mountains with a single strike, had even made the ancient demon, millennia old, abandon its northward advance and retreat. Moreover, the morale of the members, which had been precarious like a lamp before the wind, now blazed fiercely like fire fed with oil.
It was true that the tide had turned and this side had gained the upper hand, but Hugo’s intuition foresaw that if things continued like this, problems would surely arise for him. Therefore, even just to prevent undue strain on Leonardo’s body, it was necessary to bring this situation to a swift conclusion.
But the difference in combat power between the Council’s battalion leaders and the current Leonardo was as vast as heaven and earth. Merely keeping up with his speed was taxing enough; it would be fortunate if they weren’t a hindrance, and realistically, it was a situation where helping him was difficult.
Ultimately, to swiftly execute the fleeing core, a new strategy was needed, not the disordered method like the present one.
In short,
‘If we can give Leonardo just one proper chance.’
Perhaps they could finally put an end to this endless battle.
Thud, THUD—
As if to cut off Hugo’s thoughts, a dark shadow and an ominous sound momentarily fell over his head. Quickly lowering his altitude, Hugo looked up to find a massive Boulder that had broken off from the rock wall had already approached right before his eyes.
‘The left side.’
His gaze, which had momentarily shifted leftward tracking a presence, now fiercely focused on the cascading boulders. The moment his chilly eyes met the center, the surface of the boulders became entirely covered in ice.
Soon after, the volume of the ice gradually expanded, creating fine cracks on the surface, and the large rock mass inside shattered into small, elongated fragments. Hugo, seizing the timing, immediately swung his Greatsword in a wide arc, and the pieces, pushed by the sword energy, surged upward toward the sky.
At that moment, the core, revealing itself from beyond the peak, spread its wings and glided, attempting to move to the opposite side. The sharp crystals, flying through the air, perfectly embedded themselves into the creature’s hind legs in an instant.
SCREEEEEECH—
Caught by the unexpected ambush, the monster shrieked and increased its speed as if whipped. Leaping to gain propulsion by stepping on the ridges between the mountain ranges, it spewed flames onto the ground, scorching the earth and vegetation.
In an instant, within his reddened field of vision, Hugo felt a dreadful sensation as if his lungs were burning. Nevertheless, he amplified the chill, wrapped it around himself, and prepared to confront the oncoming flames head-on.
At that moment, ‘He’ appeared, emitting a sharp light, and stood blocking Hugo’s path.
“Damn rat—.”
Leonardo, who had chased the core, spread a golden Magic Circle widely and instantly absorbed the evil flames. Then, as if returning the attack to the opponent, he radiated a massive flame toward the gap in the smoke where the core had hidden.
That firepower, which even at a glance was ten times the power of the monster’s breath, annihilated everything from Peak 120 to Peak 125 in one go. Watching this scene, Isabella, who was being pushed back by the blast of hot wind, felt a shiver run down her spine along with the heat.
Then, Leonardo, who had been gritting his teeth and enduring the power of his own magic, was slowly pushed back by the recoil before being flung backward in an instant. Hugo, who was behind him, hastily flew after him, simultaneously grabbing him by the waist.
Hugo quickly detonated an air sphere behind his back to reduce the pushing speed as much as possible. But in that brief moment, changing direction mid-air was nearly impossible, and the force pushing him back was so strong that a collision with the towering rock wall ahead was unavoidable.
CRRRAAASH—!
Making sure his own back hit the wall first, Hugo struggled to absorb as much of the impact delivered to his embrace as possible. Without even a moment to endure the pain, hazy dust obscured his vision, and he grimaced, pulling Ice Pillars from the walls on either side.
The pillars, surging up diagonally, densely blocked the front as if protecting them. At that moment, as if it had been waiting, a sharp Destruction Beam silently flew through the acrid smoke.
Instinctively sensing danger, Hugo pulled out one more Ice Pillar right at his feet. Then, using only the strength in his lower body, he pushed hard against the ice, using the speed of the pillar’s surge as a foothold to leap into the sky, holding Leonardo.
The seething Destruction Beam slammed directly into the spot they had just left. The black smoke undulating between the mountain ranges expanded its influence in all directions along with the explosion.
GRRRRBOOM—*
For a while, an ominous sound of earth and sand being swept away and a vast vibration filled the area. A landslide occurred, the ground subsided, and seawater flowing in from the nearby sea was heated by geothermal heat, spewing hot steam.
Amidst this, Leonardo, who was being pulled into the sky by Hugo and escaping from the thick smoke, curled up in pain from his burning heart and coughed lightly.
‘Damn it, what am I supposed to do if I can’t handle my own power?’
He had to drive the thing to the target point to even attempt the operation, but the output of Magic Power was unnecessarily large, increasing the burden on his body.
Normally, he could have easily endured this much without any problems, but now, the erupting power of the Amplifier, the suppressing force of the Leash, and the needle-like pain in his heart were all mixed together, causing various senses to run wild inside his body.
Then, as if to suppress them all at once, a familiar chill wrapped around his limbs. Leonardo, who reflexively shivered at the cold energy that didn’t match the environment here, frowned and raised his head. Then, he could meet Agrizendro’s face, who was looking at him with a worried expression.
“Leonardo, what’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”
The voice, which sounded quite serious, tickled his face and ears affectionately, contrary to its intention.
But strangely, the distance was so close that Leonardo could only blink and meet his gaze for a moment.
Then, he unconsciously thought that he had to suppress his energy, and naturally lowered his eyes to quickly grasp the situation.
An intense energy that even he couldn’t control was erupting from his whole body, but Agrizendro was stuck to him without knowing how dangerous this situation was. He wasn’t just sticking to him, but he was supporting his back and under his thighs, embracing him with ice wrapped around his arms and chest.
He had a similar experience with Nero earlier, but the feeling now was quite different from then. The other man’s shoulders, which were incomparably broader than Nero’s, gave him a sense of stability that was somehow greater than before.
The erupting hot wind melted the ice in an instant, scattering Hugo’s hair as if trying to shake him off. Then, as if not to be pushed back, Hugo drew out more cold energy and responded strongly to the fierce heat. Air with different properties rubbed around the two, and white steam soared and overflowed in all directions.
Leonardo, who had been meekly gathering his hands in front of his chest due to the pain in his heart, was startled awake from his paused thoughts as Hugo’s cool face gradually became scorched by the heat.
“W-Wait, I told you not to come close!”
The heat erupting around him now was not at a level that an ice and water Mage could withstand. No matter how much ice he wrapped around himself, he would suffer a near-fatal burn if he continued like this.
However, Hugo did not let go of him despite Leonardo’s struggles to push his shoulders away.
Instead, he quietly looked at him with sunken eyes, then suddenly lowered his gaze. Then, he watched the movements of the thing that was moving leisurely through the black smoke and aiming for them.